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JUL  29  1914 

Some  Ethical  Phases  of  Eskimo 

Culture 


BY 


ALBERT  NICOLAY  GILBERTSON,  A.  M. 

Fellow  in  Anthropology,  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Massachusetts 


A  DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF 
CLARK  UNIVERSITY,  WORCESTER,  MASS.,  IN 
PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  AND 
ACCEPTED  ON  THE  RECOMMENDATION  OF 
ALEXANDER  F.  CHAMBERLAIN,  CHIEF  INSTRUCTOR 


UNIVERSITY  J 

OF        ..*.         / 


Reprinted  from  the  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY,  Volume  VI,  No.  4, 

October,  1913,  pp.  321-374  and  Volume  VII,  No.  1, 

January,  1914,  pp.  45-74. 


Some  Ethical  Phases  of  Eskimo 

Culture 


BY 
ALBERT  NICOLAY  GILBERTSON,  A.  M. 

Fellow  in  Anthropology,  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Massachusetts 


A  DISSERTATION  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF 
CLARK  UNIVERSITY,  WORCESTER,  MASS.,  IN 
PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY,  AND 
ACCEPTED  ON  THE  RECOMMENDATION  OF 
ALEXANDER  F.  CHAMBERLAIN,  CHIEF  INSTRUCTOR 


Reprinted  from  the  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY,  Volume  VI,  No.  4, 

October,  1913,  pp.  321-374  and  Volume  VII,  No.  1, 

January,  1914,  pp.  45-74. 


0CU 


SOME  ETHICAL  PHASES  OF  ESKIMO  CULTURE 

BY  ALBERT  NICOLAY  GILBERTSON,  A.  M., 

Fellow   in   Anthropology,    Clarlc   University,    Worcester,   Mass. 

OUTLINE 

1.  Introduction. 

2.  General  Description. 

3.  Social   Order. 

4.  Custom  in  Relation  to  Morality. 

5.  ' '  Ethnocentrism. ' ' 

6.  Taboos  and  Their  Relation  to  Religion. 

7.  "  Liberalism. " 

8.  Law  and  Punishment. 

9.  Sociability  and  Politeness. 

10.  Sense  of  Justice  and  Mercy. 

11.  Homicide  and  War. 

12.  Truthfulness  and  Good  Faith. 

13.  Gratitude. 

14.  Parent   and   Child. 

15.  Cannibalism. 

16.  Property  and  Trade. 

17.  Inheritance. 

18.  Theft. 

19.  Begging. 

20.  Gambling. 

21.  Marriage  and  Divorce. 

22.  Extra-nuptial  Relations. 

23.  Position  and  Treatment  of  Women. 

24.  Conclusion. 

25.  Bibliography. 

The  writer  desires  to  express  his  thanks  to  Dr.  A.  F.  Chamberlain,  under 
whom  this  study  was  made,  for  advice  and  criticism;  and  to  Dr.  Louis  N. 
Wilson,  Librarian  of  the  University  for  his  kindness  in  making  available  liter 
ature,  otherwise  inacessible. 

I.  INTRODUCTION 

A  very  common  attitude  toward  the  moral  life  of  primitive 
peoples  is  that  illustrated  by  the  English  gentleman,  who,  accord 
ing  to  the  story,  wrote  a  book  about  certain  tribes  which  he  had 


4  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

visited,  one  chapter  of  which,  dealing  with  "customs  and 
manners, ' '  consisted  of  four  words :  ' '  Customs,  beastly ;  man 
ners,  none."  But  a  broader,  truer  view  is  fortunately  coming 
to  prevail,  the  result  of  study  at  once  scientific  and  sympathetic, 
of  peoples  whose  practices  and  standards  differ  from  our  own. 
A  slight  contribution  to  the  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
some  ethical  phases  of  the  culture  of  one  of  the  most  interesting 
of  the  world's  peoples  is  the  aim  of  this  study  of  the  Eskimo. 

In  the  study  of  morality,  as  well  as  of  other  phases  of  human 
culture,  there  are  two  general  methods  of  investigation  and 
presentation.  One  of  these  methods  is  best  represented,  in  the 
field  within  which  the  present  inquiry  falls,  by  Westermarck's 
great  work,  Origin  and  Development  of  Moral  Ideas.  Thomas 
aptly  compares  this  method  to  that  developed  by  Pitt-Rivers 
for  arranging  specimens  in  a  museum.  By  the  Pitt-Rivers 
method, 

' '  All  the  knives,  throwing  sticks,  and  other  articles  of  a  particular 
kind  were  brought  together  in  one  place,  with  a  view  to  exhibiting  the 
steps  in  the  development  of  this  article — and  some  very  pretty  effects 
were  secured. "  (64:  857.) 

But,  as  this  authority  goes  on  to  say : 

' '  Our  great  museums  are  now  recognizing  that  it  is,  on  the  whole  better 
to  arrange  materials  on  the  principle  of  presenting  the  culture  of  a  given 
region  as  a  whole.  No  object  can  be  completely  understood  when  separ 
ated  from  the  whole  culture  of  which  it  is  a  part." 

For  a  keen  criticism  of  the  first  method,  which  is  that  employed 
by  Spencer,  Frazer,  and  many  others,  especially  earlier  writers, 
reference  may  be  made  to  Dewey's  essay  on  "The  Interpretation 
of  the  Savage  Mind."  The  advantages  of  the  regional  study 
of  cultures  is  coming  to  be  generally  recognized.  Cultural 
phenomena  should  be  studied  "in  situ,"  in  connection  with  the 
physical  and  social  environment  in  which  they  are  found. 
Haddon  well  sums  up  this  position,  in  the  conclusion  of  his 
History  of  Anthropology  (23: 154)  : 

' '  Comparisons  made  within  a  given  area  or  among  cognate  peoples 
have  a  greater  value  than  those  drawn  from  various  parts  of  the  world. 
What  is  most  needed  at  the  present  day  is  intensive  study  of  limited  areas. ' ' 

In  the  present  study,  the  writer  has  endeavored  to  present  the 
moral  ideas  and  practices  of  the  Eskimo  in  their  relations  to  each 
other  and  to  the  physical,  social  and  economic  conditions.  While 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  5 

it  is  hoped  that  the  facts  recorded  may  be  of  value  in  throwing 
some  light  on  the  deeper  and  larger  problems  of  the  moral  life 
of  mankind,  I  have  studiously  tried  to  avoid  alike  unnecessary 
theoretical  assumptions  and  conclusions  unjustified  by  our 
present  state  of  knowledge.  "Premature  generalizations" 
Haddon  rightly  regards  as  "the  chief  danger"  to  which  anthro 
pology  is  at  present  liable.  It  was  Tylor  who  said  that 

11  It  is  of  as  little  use  to  be  a  good  reasoner  when  there  are  no  facts 
to  reason  upon,  as  it  is  to  be  a  good  bricklayer  when  there  are  no  bricks 
to  build  with."  (68:  56.) 

It  is  sometimes  painfully  evident  that  those  are  not  wanting  who 
proceed  upon  the  contrary  supposition  in  many  an  erudite  pre 
tentious  discourse  on  "primitive  man"  (i.e.,  what,  according  to 
the  particular  pet  scientifico-philosophical  scheme,  he  must 
logically  have  been). 

The  data  used  have  been  gathered  largely  from  the  accounts 
of  men  who  write  from  personal  experience  with  various  branches 
of  the  Eskimo  stock.  Of  course,  no  one  man  ever  has,  or  likely 
ever  will,  come  in  actual  contact  with  the  Eskimo  in  all  parts 
of  their  domain.  The  authorities  are  chiefly  of  two  classes, 
Christian  missionaries  and  Arctic  explorers,  among  whom  we 
include  trained  ethnologists,  who  went  mainly,  or  exclusively, 
for  purposes  of  anthropological  investigation,  as,  for  example, 
Boas.  The  literature  on  the  Eskimo  is  perhaps,  on  the  whole, 
more  trustworthy  than  that  on  most  of  the  other  North  American 
aborigines,  as  the  geographical  location  and  climatic  conditions 
of  their  habitat  have  prevented  the  influx  of  the  "summer 
vacation"  type,  hence  there  is  not  such  an  abundance  of  mere 
"travelers'  tales."  But  even  here  fact  and  fancy  are  undoubt 
edly  mixed  in  ways  which  it  is  often  difficult  or  impossible  to 
determine.  The  available  material  is  of  very  uneven  value  for 
scientific  purposes.  I  have  taken  into  account  factors  which 
might  influence  the  accuracy  of  the  reports  given,  such  as 
religious  or  racial  prejudices,  expert  training  and  critical  method, 
opportunities  for  observation,  etc. 

Another  source  from  which  material  has  been  drawn  is  Eskimo 
folk-lore.  Matthews  says  that  (41:  2)  "perhaps  the  safest  way 
to  discover  the  ethical  notions  of  savages  is  by  the  study  of  their 
myths  and  traditions;  but,"  he  adds,  "even  here  we  must  pro 
ceed  with  caution  and  employ  the  critical  methods  of  modern 


O  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

science. "  As  to  the  value  of  folk-lore  for  the  study  of  historical 
events  there  is  the  widest  difference  of  opinion.  (See  55:  307.) 
But,  be  that  as  it  may;  let  us  take,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
so  to  speak,  Swanton's  view  that 

"The  major  part  of  these  tales  record,  not  objective  fact,  but  sub 
jective  belief,  the  popular  conception  of  what  ought  to  have  happened, 
the  sense  of  'poetic  justice'  as  it  existed  in  the  tribe  from  which  it  was 
obtained"  (62:  4.), 

and  the  importance  of  their  study  for  our  present  purpose  is  as 
evident  as  if  every  detail  had  happened  "just  so."  Also,  to 
quote  Rivers, 

'  The  significance  of  the  social  setting  and  of  incidental  references  to 
social  events  is  very  great,  is  obvious  and  generally  admitted."  (55:  311.) 

So,  all  questions  of  history  aside,  folk-lore  reflects  the  life  of 
the  people  from  which  it  sprang  and  reveals  the  ethical  ideas  of 
that  people,  although  to  interpret  it  correctly  in  this  latter 
respect  may  often  be  difficult.  I  believe  it  was  Ruskin  who  said 
that  more  important  than  the  question  whether  there  was  a 
real  Cincinnatus  who  left  the  plough  in  the  furrow  at  a  particu 
lar  time  is  the  knowledge  about  the  ideas  of  manhood  and 
patriotism  of  the  ancient  Romans  Avhich  we  get  from  that 
legend,  if  such  it  be. 

The  folk-lore  of  the  Eskimo  is  peculiarly  susceptible  to  this 
kind  of  study,  for,  as  Boas  has  pointed  out,  in  his  excellent  dis 
cussion  of  the  general  character  of  Eskimo  folk-lore,  "the  most 
striking  feature  of  Eskimo  folk-lore  is  its  thoroughly  human 
character."  With  few  exceptions,  "the  events  which  form  the 
subject  of  their  traditions  occur  in  human  society  as  it  exists 
now."  (7:2.) 

A  word  may  be  said  of  the  copious  use  of  the  extracts  in  the 
ipsissima  verla  of  the  sources  of  my  information.  One  reason 
for  this  has  been  to  present  an  author's  meaning  in  the  most 
unambiguous  way,  and  avoid  possible  misconstructions  of  his 
words.  If  the  present  writer  has  misunderstood  any  statement, 
the  original  will  enable  the  reader  to  make  necessary  corrections. 
Then,  too,  as  Haddon  has  expressed  it,  "a  quotation  brings  one 
more  face  to  face  with  the  author  than  does  a  mere  abstract" 
(Evolution  in  Art,  Preface,  p.  vi). 

Also  I  have  not  hesitated  to  give  numerous  concrete  examples 
from  Eskimo  life,  letting  the  Eskimo  speak  for  themselves  in 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  7 

word  and  action  whenever  possible.     Marett  gives  a  quotation 
from  Seligman,  in  which  a  Vedda  cave-dweller  says: 

"It  is  pleasant  for  us  to  go  out  and  dig  yams,  and  come  home  wet, 
and  see  the  fire  burning  in  the  cave,  and  sit  round  it." 

Upon  this  Marett  comments  thus: 

' '  That  sort  of  remark  shows  more  light  on  the  anthropology  of  cave- 
life  than  all  the  bones  and  stones  that  I  have  helpd  to  dig  out  of  our 
Mousterian  caves  in  Jersey." 

He  emphasizes  the  importance  of  such  "human  documents,"  in 
these  words: 

"We  need  to  supplement  the  books  of  abstract  theory  with  much 
sympathetic  insight  directed  towards  men  and  women  in  their  concrete 
selfhood.  To  study  the  plot  without  studying  the  characters  will  never 
make  sense  of  the  drama  of  human  life."  (39:  242,  243.) 


2.  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION 

The  Eskimoan  linguistic  stock  is  the  northernmost  branch  of 
the  human  race.  It  is  also  one  of  the  widest  distributed  of  the 
world's  peoples.  Its  territory  extends  from  the  east  coast  of 
Greenland  and  Labrador  to  the  eastern  part  of  Siberia,  a  dis 
tance  of  5,000  miles.  Thus,  in  the  language  of  Latham  (quoted, 
15 :  261)  "the  Eskimo  is  the  only  population  clearly  and  indubit 
ably  common  to  the  two  Worlds,  the  Old  and  the  New."  The 
present  study  is  confined  to  the  Eskimo  proper,  not  including  the 
cognate  Yuits  of  Siberia,  or  the  natives  of  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

The  Eskimo  were  the  first  American  aborigines  to  come  in 
contact  with  Europeans.  It  is  now  the  general  consensus  of 
authorities  that  the  SkraUinger,  described  by  the  early  Norse 
discoverers,  were  Eskimo. 

The  two  leading  theories  of  the  original  home  of  the  Eskimo 
are  that  of  Rink,  who  regards  it  as  the  interior  of  Alaska,  and 
that  of  Boas,  who  considers  it  probable  that  it  was  in  the  region 
west  of  Hudson  Bay.  The  latter  is  now  the  more  commonly 
accepted  view. 

Mason  recognizes  on  the  American  continent,  north  of  Mexico, 
twelve  "ethnic  environments"  (28.  1 :  427-430),  in  each  of  which 
there  is  "an  ensemble  of  qualities  that  impressed  themselves  on 
their  inhabitants  and  differentiated  them."  The  characteristics 
of  the  Arctic  environment,  inhabitated  by  the  Eskimo  include 


8  JOURNAJL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

"an  intensely  cold  climate;  about  six  months  day  and  six  months  night; 
predominance  of  ice  and  snow;  immense  archipelagos,  and  no  accessible 
elevations;  good  stone  for  lamps  and  tools;  driftwood,  but  no  timber,  and 
little  fruit;  polar  bear,  blue  fox,  aquatic  mammals  in  profusion,  migratory 
birds,  and  fish,  supplying  food,  clothing,  fire,  light,  and  other  wants  of 
an  exacting  climate." 

In  this  environment,  in  the  words  of  Chamberlain : 

"The  Eskimo  have  conquered  a  severe  and  thankless  climate  by  the 
invention  and  perfection  of  the  snow-house,  the  dog-sled,  the  oil-lamps 
(creating  and  sustaining  social  life  and  making  extensive  migrations  pos 
sible),  the  harpoon  and  the  Icayak  or  skin-boat  (the  acme  of  adaptation 
of  individual  skill  to  environmental  demands)."  (14:  468.) 

Their  ability  to  successfully  master  such  an  environment  has 
aroused  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  all  who  have  studied  them. 

"We  should  be  wrong"  declares  Amundsen,  "if  from  the  weapons, 
implements  and  domestic  appliances  of  these  people,  we  were  to  argue 
that  they  were  of  low  intelligence.  Their  implements,  apparently  so 
very  primitive,  proved  to  be  as  well  adapted  to  their  existing  requirements 
and  conditions  as  experience  and  the  careful  tests  of  many  centuries 
could  have  made  them."  (1.  1:  294.) 

And  the  world  will  never  forget  that  of  the  six  human  beings 
who  first  reached  the  earth's  north  pole,  four  were  Eskimo,  and 
Peary  voices  the  conviction  of  explorers  of  the  frozen  north  when 
he  says  that  "  no  more  effective  instruments  for  Arctic  work 
could  be  imagined ' '  and  ' '  their  help  is  one  of  the  elements  with 
out  which  it  is  possible  that  the  North  Pole  might  never  have 
been  reached."  (48:42,  47.) 

There  is  good  reason  for  Haberlandt's  opinion  that 

"When  we  consider  their  technical  and  nautical  skill,  their  peaceful 
companionship  and  their  works  of  art,  it  is  impossible  to  regard  the 
Eskimo  as  one  of  the  lower  types  of  civilization."  (22:  144.) 

A  sympathetic,  yet  impartial,  survey  of  the  life  of  this  people, 
will,  I  think,  force  everyone  to  agree  with  Chamberlain  that 
"to  the  student  of  America's  past,  there  can  be  no  tribe,  ncr 
nation,  so  interesting"  as  the  Eskimo.     (15:261.) 

3.  SOCIAL  ORDER 

The  conditions  of  their  habitat  and  the  struggle  for  existence 
have  necessitated,  if  the  Eskimo  were  to  survive,  the  two  most 
salient  features  of  their  social  order — isolation  and  solidarity, 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  9 

that  is,  living  in  small  scattered  groups,  the  members  of  each  of 
which  are  bound  together  by  intense  unity.  As  Nansen  says 

"The  men  of  some  tribes  or  races  are  driven  to  combine  with  each 
other  by  the  pressure  of  human  enemies,  others  by  inhospitable  natural 
surroundings.  The  latter  has  been  the  case  with  the  Eskimo."  (43: 
119.) 

And  the  scarcity  of  the  food-supply  likewise  forces  them  to 
observe  the  rule,  "Divide  et  impera."  Sutherland,  in  his 
ingenious  and  suggestive  classification  of  the  world's  peoples 
(61.  1:  104),  puts  the  Eskimo  together  with  most  of  the  North 
American  aborigines,  in  the  class  of  "higher  savages,"  who, 
according  to  his  scheme,  live  in  groups  of  50  to  200.  The  number 
given  is,  I  believe,  fairly  correct  for  the  Eskimo  communities. 

The  gentile  system  of  social  organization,  so  prominent  among 
many  Indian  stocks,  seems  to  be  foreign  to  Eskimo  culture 
(42:42;  35:21;  17:145).  With  the  possible  exception  of  the 
Western  Eskimo,  Rink  regards  its  maintenance  as  "incompatible 
with  the  extraordinary  dispersion,  the  scanty  intercourse  between 
the  small  communities  into  which  the  nation  always  tends  to 
divide"  (52:22),  also, 

"a,  strict  rule  of  a  married  couple  living  with  either  the  relatives  of  the 
husband  or  the  wife,  could  not  be  preserved  by  people  whose  sustenance 
was  dependent  on  choosing  the  most  favorable  hunting  stations."  (52:  23.) 

Nelson  claims  to  have  found  among  certain  Alaskan  Eskimo  "a 
regular  system  of  totem  marks  and  the  accompanying  subdivision 
of  the  people  into  gentes"  (p.  322;  for  his  evidence  see  pp. 
322-27).  This,  especially  in  the  presence  of  contradictory  evi 
dence,  does  not  seem  to  be  conclusive.  (See  42:  42;  35:  21; 
17:  145;  3.)  Even  less  probable  is  Gordon's -theory  that  the 
custom  of  tattooing  employed  by  the  Eskimo  is  "a  surviving 
evidence  of  a  full  totemic  system."  (Quoted  by  Chamberlain, 
Journal  of  American  Folklore,  vol.  20,  p.  80.) 

Consequently,  when  we  speak  of  "tribes"  among  the  Eskimo, 
we  do  not  use  that  term  in  the  sense  of  an  organization  built 
on  a  certain  relation  between  clans  or  gentes.  The  usage  is 
primarily  geographical.  To  quote  from  Rink's  Eskimo  Tribes, 
"as  to  the  Eskimo  it  will  imply  the  possession  of  a  territory  and 
generally  of  a  dialect  in  the  strictest  sense."  (52:  24;  see  also 
3.  Introduction,  xii;  30:  143.) 

Peary's  statement  that  the  Eskimo  are  nomads,  and  "seldom 


10  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

live  more  than  a  year  or  two  in  one  place"  (48:42),  does  not 
seem  to  hold  as  a  general  characterization.  Rather  it  appears 
more  correct  to  hold,  with  Barnum  that,  while  * '  on  acount  of  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  food,  the  Innuit  are  forced  to  travel  about 
a  great  deal,  yet  they  are  not  a  nomadic  race"  (3.  xii).  So  too 
Rink  asserts  that 

"the  Eskimo  may  more  properly  be  classed  among  the  people  having 
fixed  dwellings  than  among  the  wandering  nations,  because  they  gen 
erally  winter  the  same  places  through  even  more  than  one  generation,  so 
that  love  of  their  birthplace  is  a  rather  predominant  feature  in  their  char 
acter."  (53.  9;  for  a  use  of  love  of  home  in  folk-lore  see  53:  466.) 

Crantz  suggests  that  their  belief  that  the  soul  may  remain  at 
home,  while  the  man  is  away  on  the  chase,  is  due  to  home 
sickness. 

The  subdivisions  of  Eskimo  society  fall  under  three  heads,  the 
family,  the  housemates,  and  the  place-fellows. 

The  family  consists  of  the  parents  and  children,  together  with 
relatives  by  adoption,  also  by  marriage,  whenever  a  married 
child  remains  in  the  parental  home.  The  father  is  regarded  as 
the  head  of  the  family,  but  as  Murdoch  says,  his  rule  is  ' '  founded 
more  on  respect  and  mutual  agreement  than  on  despotic 
authority."  (42:427;  cf.  66:190.) 

Boas  emphasizes  the  place  of  kinship  in  Eskimo  society  when 
he  says,  "the  social  order  of  the  Eskimo  is  entirely  founded  on 
the  ties  of  consanguinity  and  affinity  between  the  individual 
families"  (5:  578).  According  to  Holm,  "the  bond  of  blood  is 
regarded  as  an  obligation  to  stand  by  each  other  under  all 
circumstances."  (30:  87.)  Rink  cites  the  rather  complicated 
system  of  kinship  terms  and  the  ability  to  remember  rela 
tives  several  generations  back  as  evidence  of  the  importance 
of  relationship  to  Eskimo  thought.  (52:22.)  Even  if  the 
family  is  divided  by  removals  to  distant  settlements,  the  obliga 
tions  of  kinship  are  in  force  whenever  mutual  aid  is  required. 
^(See  53:25.) 

Holm  narrates  an  incident  from  real  life,  illustrating  the 
bond  between  brothers  and  sisters. 

A  hunter  at  a  village  named  Nojarik  had  caught  a  narwhal.  In  a 
village  called  Sennilik  he  had  a  married  sister.  In  the  winter  no  one 
goes  to  visit  between  these  two  places.  But  this  brother  undertook  the 
long  and  perilous  journey,  carrying  a  large  package  of  meat  in  a  band 
about  the  forehead.  "He  was  very  much  afraid  that  she  should  suffer 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  11 

want,  while  he  had  abundance."  In  a  sharp  north  wind  and  over  a 
difficult  country,  he  covered  the  8  miles  (Danish).  It  was  toward  evening 
when  he  came  to  the  lodge  of  the  Danish  expedition.  He  was  invited 
to  remain  over  night.  "He  did  not  have  time  to  stay,  but  continued  his 
way  into  the  falling  darkness."  (30:  174.) 

Folk-lore  also  gives  frequent  expression  to  this  feeling.  The 
beginning  of  a  Greenland  tale,  "Several  brothers  had  an  only 
sister,  whom  they  loved  dearly  and  were  very  loth  to  part  with' 
(53:404),  is  typical.  In  another, 

A  young  wife,  who  has  given  birth  to  her  first-born,  on  being  asked 
why  she  looked  so  sad,  said,  "It  is  because  of  our  baby  boy;  I  would 
like  him  so  much  to  go  and  see  his  mother's  brothers.  I  cannot  forget 
those  dear  ones,  and  that  is  why  I  have  grown  so  silent."  When  her 
brothers  were  informed  of  her  arrival  at  the  old  home,  "each  of  them 
cried,  'Oh,  my  dear  sister!  ye  have  not  cared  for  her  as  I  have!  ye  have 
not  missed  her  so  much  neither;  ye  have  not  longed  so  much  for  her  as  I 
have  done/  And  each  of  them  wanted  to  be  the  first  to  greet  ber,  and 
to  take  hold  of  her.  .  .  .  The  brothers  stayed  at  home  all  day, 
and  for  joy  at  the  meeting  could  do  naught  but  sit  down  together  and 
regard  each  other  lovingly."  (53:  209,  211.) 

Folk-lore  also  tells  of  brothers  who  defend  their  sister  against 
her  husband.  (53:  431.) 

An  interesting  custom  is  reported  from  Bering  Strait.  In 
warfare,  "if  a  man  had  relatives  in  the  opposing  party,  and  for 
this  reason  did  not  wish  to  take  part  in  the  battle,  he  would 
blacken  his  face  with  charcoal  and  remain  a  non-combatant,  both 
sides  respecting  his  neutrality."  (45:329.) 

For  further  data  on  kinship  see  under  "Children,"  "Mar 
riage/'  "Punishment." 

The  second  kind  of  community  comprises  the  housemates.  In 
this  case  more  than  one  family  live  in  the  same  house.  For  such 
a  plan  to  be  carried  out,  the  agreement  of  all  the  families  con 
cerned  is  required.  As  a  general  custom,  this  form  of  community 
seems  to  be  confined  to  Greenland,  where  it  has  been  described 
by  numerous  writers.  (16.  1 :  165,  170 ;  53  :  26  ;  52  :  25  ;  54 :  142  ; 
30:85;  43:79.)  The  most  highly  developed  form  of  this  com 
munity-house  is  found  in  East  Greenland,  where  there  is  only 
one  house  at  each  settlement.  There  is  thus  no  difference  between 
housemates  and  place-fellows.  The  number  of  inmates  in  one 
house  described  by  Holm  ran  as  high  as  58.  The  Greenland 
common  house  consists  of  only  one  room,  marked  off  for  the 


12  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

several  families.  In  a  space  four  feet  wide  lived  a  man  with 
two  wives  and  seven  children. 

Each  family  maintains  its  own  household,  but  "among  the 
heads  of  the  several  families  one  was  generally  found  who  was 
held  in  higher  esteem  than  the  rest  by  all  the  housemates." 
(53:  26.)  This  man  acts  as  a  kind  of  head  of  the  house- 
community.  "His  position  rests  mostly  on  a  tacit  recognition 
of  his  authority."  (30:  86.)  He  is  generally  the  oldest  man, 
if  this  particular  person  is  or  has  been  a  good  hunter  or  has 
sons  who  are  good  hunters.  He  is  regarded  as  the  host  when 
visitors  come  to  the  house;  he  determines  the  dividing  and 
ordering  of  the  house.  He  enjoins  when  they  are  to  move  into 
the  house  in  the  autumn,  "for  all  the  families  must  move  in 
simultaneously,  in  order  to  warm  up  the  house."  (30:  86.) 
In  the  summer,  when  the  Eskimo  live  in  tents,  the  families  have 
separate  quarters.  (See  also  16.  1:  165;  52:  24-26.) 

The  third  and  largest  community  is  made  up  of  the  place- 
fellows,  that  is,  inhabitants  of  the  same  village  or  wintering 
station.  According  to  Rink, 

"still  less  than  among  the  housemates  was  any  one  belonging  to  such 
a  place  to  be  considered  as  chief,  or  as  endowed  with  any  authority  to 
command  his  place-mates." 

He  points  out  that 

1  The  folk-lore  in  many  cases  shows  how  men  who  had  succeeded  in 
acquiring  such  power  were  considered  as  usurpers  of  undue  authority,  and 
vanquishing  or  killing  them  ranked  as  a  benefit  to  the  community  in 
general."  (53:  27.) 

Nelson  states, 

"The  Alaskan  Eskimo  have  no  recognized  chiefs,  except  such  as  gain 
a  certain  influence  over  their  fellow-villagers  through  superior  shrewd 
ness,  wisdom,  age,  wealth,  or  shamanism.  The  old  men  are  listened  to 
with  respect,  and  there  are  usually  one  or  more  in  each  village  who  by 
their  extended  acquaintance  with  the  traditions,  customs,  and  rites  con 
nected  with  the  festivals,  as  well  as  being  possessed  of  an  unusual  degree 
of  common  sense,  are  deferred  to  and  act  as  chief  advisers  of  the  com 
munity."  Such  a  leader  is  known  by  a  term,  meaning  "the  one  to 
whom  all  listen."  (45:  304.) 

'All  Eskimo  villages  have  a  headman,  whose  influence  is  obtained 
through  the  general  belief  of  his  fellow  villagers  in  his  superior  ability 
and  good  judgment.  These  men  possess  no  fixed  authority,  but  are 
respected,  and  their  directions  are  generally  heeded."  (To  the  same 
effect,  42:  427;  66:  193.) 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  13 

Nelson  adds  that,  "in  some  cases,  a  headman  may  be  suc 
ceeded  by  his  son" — note  this  clause — "when  the  latter  has  the 
necessary  qualities."  Boas  reports  that  on  the  west  coast  of 
Hudson  Bay  cases  are  known  where  the  leadership  passed  from 
father  to  son ;  but  there,  too,  the  latter  succeeds  as  leader  '  *  on 
account  of  his  ability. ' '  The  blessing  invoked  by  an  aged  leader 
on  his  grandson  was  ' '  that  he  might  become  a  great  hunter  and 
whaleman."  (6: 115.)  Nowhere  does  there  appear  any  leader 
ship  by  right  of  birth.  Holmberg's  statement  about  "hereditary 
chiefs,"  among  certain  Alaskan  tribes,  can  be  accepted  only 
as  perhaps  referring  to  cases  like  those  recorded  by  Nelson  and 
Boas.  (32:78.  See  also  47.  2:236;  3.  Introduction,  xii; 
1.  2:27;  21:390;  48:65.) 

4.  CUSTOM  IN  RELATION  TO  MORALITY 

The  study  of  morality  is  intimately  bound  up  with  that  of 
custom.  As  we  know,  the  term  "ethics"  comes  from  the  Greek 
"ethos,"  meaning  custom  or  usage.  Of  like  signification  is  the 
Latin  "mores,"  from  which  we  have  our  word  "moral."  As 
Westermarck  says,  "Society  is  the  birthplace  of  the  moral  con 
sciousness,"  and  "tribal  custom  was  the  earliest  rule  of  duty." 
(71.  1: 118-119.)  We  should,  however,  be  rather  critical  toward 
attempts  to  draw  distinctions  between  "primitive"  and  "civil 
ized"  people  on  the  basis  of  the  relative  importance  of  instinct, 
custom,  and  reason  in  determining  conduct.  (See  Kroeber, 
36 :  437. )  This  is  not  to  deny  the  force  of  custom  in  primitive 
society,  but  to  point  out  its  operation  in  civilization  as  well. 

The  adherence  of  the  Eskimo  to  custom  has  been  noted  by 
most  observers  of  their  culture.  For  example,  Rasmussen  states 
that  they 

"base  their  ideas  of  life  on  a  series  of  legends  and  customs  which  have 
been  handed  down  by  oral  tradition  for  untold  generations.  Their  dead 
forefathers,  they  said,  enshrined  all  their  experiences  in  what  they  related 
to  those  who  come  after  them.  And  none  may  accuse  the  dead  of 
untrustworthiness.  Wisdom  goes  in  retrograde  direction  [italics  mine] ; 
none  can  measure  himself  with  the  fathers  of  the  race,  none  can  defy 
sickness  and  misfortune,  and  therefore  people  are  still  subject  to  the  old 
prohibitions. "  (50:  99.) 

Nelson  says, 

' f  The  only  feeling  of  conscience  or  moral  duty  noted  seemed  an  in 
stinctive  desire  to  do  that  which  was  most  conducive  to  the  general  good 


14  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

of  the  community,  as  looked  at  from  their  point  of  view.  Whatever 
experience  has  taught  them  to  be  best  is  done,  guided  by  superstitious 
usages  and  customs."  (45:  294.) 

The  Greenlanders '  conception  of  evil,  was,  to  quote  Eink 

' '  all  that  was  contrary  to  the  laws  and  customs,  as  regulated  by  the 
angakoks."  So  when  the  Danish  missionaries  presented  to  them  the 
Christian  views,  the  Eskimo  "  conceived  the  idea  of  virtue  and  sin  as 
what  was  pleasing  or  displeasing  to  the  Europeans,  as  according  or  dis 
according  with  their  customs  and  laws."  (51:  201.) 

The  Eskimo  are  pronounced  a  very  conservative  people.  In 
the  words  of  Boas, 

' '  The  language,  as  well  as  the  traditions  of  the  Eskimo,  points  out 
an  exceptionally  high  degree  of  conservatism  among  this  people.  The 
tenacity  with  which  small  peculiarities  in  the  type  of  implements  are 
retained  by  each  tribe  throws  a  new  light  upon  this  conservatism,  which, 
while  characteristic  of  most  primitive  people,  is  in  few  cases  as  well 
developed  as  among  the  Eskimo."  (6:  375;  Cf.  33:  316;  3.  Introduction, 
xvii.). 

5.  "  ETHNOCENTRISM  " 

Closely  connected  with  this  conservatism  is  the  trait  which 
Sumner  has  called  * '  ethnocentrism, ' '  the  basis  of  what  is  known 
in  civilized  countries  as  patriotism,  with  its  perversions  in 
' '  chauvinism ' '  and  ' '  jingoism. ' ' 

Peary  remarks: 

1 '  Much  nonsense  has  been  told  by  travelers  in  remote  lands  about  the 
aborigines'  regarding  as  gods  the  white  men  who  come  to  them,  but  I 
have  never  placed  much  credence  in  these  stories.  My  own  experience 
has  been  that  the  aborigine  is  just  as  content  with  his  own  way  as  we 
are  with  ours,  just  as  convinced  of  his  own  superior  knowledge,  and  that 
he  adjusts  himself  with  his  knowledge  in  regard  to  things  in  the  same 
way  that  we  do." 

It  is  a  question  how  much  racial  egotism  should  be  read  into 
the  well-nigh  universal  usage  of  an  ethnic  group's  calling  itself 
"human  beings"  or  "people,"  in  the  Eskimo  language,  Innuit. 
It  is  perhaps  only  a  natural  and  convenient  term  for  designating 
their  own  folk,  sometimes  the  only  human  being  of  whom  they 
know.  Among  the  Point  Barrow  Eskimo,  "Inuin"  includes 
white  men  as  well  as  Eskimo,  and  Murdoch  is  of  the  opinion  that 
this  is  true  everywhere  (42:42),  even  though  there  are  special 
names  for  other  nations,  the  most  common  word  for  Europeans 
or  white  men  being  "Kablunak."  Language  does  undoubtedly 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  15 

reveal  a  mental  attitude  in  such  cases,  as  at  Norton  Sound,  where 
the  Eskimo  speak  of  themselves  as  the  "fine  or  complete  people," 
and  their  neighbors,  the  Tinne  Indians,  by  a  name  meaning 
"louse-egg."  Cartwright  considered  it  the  highest  honor  that 
could  be  paid  him  by  the  natives  of  Labrador  when  they  dubbed 
him  an  Eskimo.  (12:110.) 
Crantz  says, 

"The  Greenlanders  consider  themselves  as  the  only  civilized  nation  in 

the  world  "    (16:    149);   "they  are  far  superior  in  their  own  estimation 

to  the  Europeans,  who  supply  an  inexhaustible  subject  of  raillery  for 
their  social  parties."  (16.  125.) 

The  Eskimo  of  Point  Barrow  consider  themselves  the  equals  if 
not  the  superiors  of  the  white  men  with  whom  they  have  to 
deal; 

1 '  they  do  not  appreciate  the  attitude  of  arrogant  superiority  adopted  by 
many  white  men  in  their  intercourse  with  so-called  savages."  (42:  42.) 

Even  Nature  is  regarded  as  partial  to  the  Eskimo.  "Our  world 
up  here  does  not  love  strangers,"  they  told  Rasmussen;  that  was 
the  reason  the  water  did  not  freeze  over  at  the  usual  and  desired 
season.  (50:83.) 

There  is  also  a  disposition  for  a  local  group  to  look  down  upon 
other  Eskimo;  there  is  what  we  would  call  sectionalism.  Of 
course  one  factor  here  may  be  ignorance,  re-enforced  by  imagina 
tion,  as  in  Stefansson's  experience.  (59:  176.)  "Only  here 
in  this  place  are  to  be  found  the  big  storytellers,"  of  a  song 
recorded  by  Thalbitzer  (63  :  309),  is  typical  of  a  common  Eskimo 
attitude.  The  following  curious  experience  of  Holm  is  a  propos. 

' '  Before  we  reached  Angmagsalik,  the  other  Eastlanders  told  us  that 
only  bad  people  lived  there.  When  we  came  to  Tasinsarsik  on  the  Ang 
magsalik  fjord,  the  inhabitants  said  that  the  people  on  the  other  side 
of  the  fjord  were  bad  people.  .  .  .  When  we  later  spoke  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  other  part  of  the  fjord,  we  were  told  that  at  their 
settlement  there  were  only  good  people,  but  that  people  we  had  not  yet 
seen  were  bad.  At  last,  it  turned  out  that  there  were  only  good  people 
on  Angmagsalik  fjord,  and  that  the  bad  ones  were  dead  or  had  moved 
to  Sermiligak."  (30;  167.) 

Several  writers  admit  that,  even  from  a  Kabluna  point  of  view, 
there  is  not  a  little  justification  for  the  Eskimo's  self-esteem. 
Crantz,  who  is  not  disposed  to  exaggerate  the  Eskimo's  good 
qualities,  gives  as  the  reason  of  their  sense  of  superiority  that 
"many  improprieties  which  they  observe  too  frequently  in  the 


16  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

conduct  of  Europeans,  seldom  or  never  occur  amongst  them." 
He  assigns  this  as  the  cause  of  their  ''usual  remark  on  seeing  a 
foreigner  of  gentle  and  modest  manners :  '  He  is  almost  as  well- 
bred  as  we, '  or  '  He  begins  to  be  a  man, '  that  is,  a  Greenlander. ' ' 
(16.  1:126.)  In  like  manner,  Paul  Egede,  also  a  missionary, 
observes  that 

' '  they  lived  less  culpably  than  most  of  the  Christians  sent  here, ' ;  and 
quotes  an  Eskimo  as  saying,  "Perhaps  if  we  got  the  knowledge  you 
have,  we  would  become  as  bad  as  your  people. ' ' 

Egede  adds: 

' '  They  have  even  thought  there  could  not  be  found  decent  people 
among  us,  unless  they  had  been  some  months  in  Greenland  and  learned 
good  manners,  and  it  is  certain  that  these  heathen  put  many  of  our  Chris 
tians  to  shame  by  their  good  behavior.'7  (20:  150;  cf.  49.) 

The  "  ethnocentrism "  of  the  Eskimo,  like  their  other  mental 
traits,  is  bound  up  with  what  Dewey  has  described  as  the  hunting 
psychosis,  which  is  one  type  of  what  we  may  designate  the  occu 
pational  psychosis.  This  furnishes  the  key  to  many  otherwise 
puzzling  ideas  and  practices.  They  make  ability  in  the 
sphere  of  their  peculiar  activities  the  standard  of  both  individual 
and  national  worth.  Of  the  Greenlanders  we  are  told  that 

"  their  own  inimitable  dexterity  in  seal-catching,  the  main  business  of 
their  lives,  and  the  only  pursuit  which  is  indispensably  necessary  to  them, 
supplies  sufficient  food  for  their  over-weening  self-conceit."  (16.  1:  125.) 

In  order  to  be  respected,  Europeans  had  to  learn  their  arts, 
especially  the  use  of  the  kayak  with  Eskimo  dexterity.  They 
inquired  if  the  king  of  Denmark  and  Norway  had  captured  many 
whales,  or  if  he  was  a  great  angakok,  the  two  supreme  attain 
ments  known  to  them.  (20:  30;  cf.  12:  123;  46:  52,  comments 
by  Eskimo.) 


6.  TABOOS  AND  THEIR  EELATION  TO  RELIGION 

A  prominent  place  in  the  customary  morality  of  the  Eskimo 
is  occupied  by  the  prohibitions  known  as  taboos.  They  are 
restrictions  chiefly  of  diet  and  work,  food-taboos  and  rest-taboos. 
The  occasions  which  are  hedged  about  with  taboos  are  various 
critical  events,  such  as  birth,  death,  and  the  chase.  So-called 
puberty  rites,  with  accompanying  taboos,  seem  to  be  unknown,  ex 
cept  among  certain  Alaskan  Eskimo,  and  then  only  pertaining  to 


GILBEBTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  17 

girls.  (2. 1 :  82 ;  32 :  121 ;  45 :  291.)  Holmberg  states  that  the  cus 
toms  he  describes  are  identical  with  those  of  the  Tlinkit  Indians, 
and  like  so  many  other  features  of  Alaskan  culture,  they  are  likely 
borrowed  from  the  neighboring  peoples.  The  behavior  of  women 
during  pregnancy  (6:143)  and  menstruation  (5:516;  6:120, 
150,  478;  20:116;  32:122)  is  strictly  regulated.  Rules  about 
the  conduct  of  women  after  child-birth  are  numerous  and  com 
plicated.  (5:610;  6:125,  143,  158,  484,  514;  26:217,  351; 
19 : 115 ;  42 :  415 ;  53 :  54 ;  16.  1 : 199 ;  34 :  233.)  Premature  birth 
calls  for  particularly  rigid  rules.  (6: 121,  125,  358,  504.)  The 
occasion  for  more  taboos,  perhaps,  than  any  other  event,  is  death. 
(5 :  610,  613 ;  6 : 120,  125,  144,  148 ;  53  :  299 ;  30 : 105,  113 ;  19  :  82 ; 
16.  1:216;  26:186,  265;  43:137;  34:207;  66:191;  32:122; 
42 :  424 ;  1.  1 :  334. )  Lastly,  there  are  regulations  immediately 
connected  with  the  chase,  aside  from  taboos  prescribed  for  other 
occasions,  affecting  the  activities  of  the  hunter.  (5:578,  587, 
596;  6:147,  149,  595;  42:264,  274,  434;  26:64;  69:432,  440; 
16.  1:199;  34:123;  30:76;  66:201;  1.  1:277.)  We  cannot 
enter  into  any  detailed  description  of  these  unnumbered  taboos. 
Reference  must  be  made  to  the  original  sources  for  such  informa 
tion.  But  we  will,  however,  touch  upon  some  of  the  reasons 
assigned  for  these  rules,  as  being  of  interest  to  our  present  study. 

This  leads  to  a  consideration  of  the  religious  beliefs  of  the 
Eskimo,  as  far  as  these  are  related  to  the  customs  we  are  now 
considering.  In  the  words  of  Rasmussen,  '  *  These  rules  form  the 
nucleus  of  their  religious  ideas."  (50:83;  cf.  53:63.) 

The  beliefs  of  the  Eskimo  about  the  supernatural  are 
extremely  difficult  to  determine,  both  because  of  the  inherent 
difficulty  of  learning  their  exact  thoughts  on  this  matter,  and 
the  apparent  vagueness  and  fluidity  of  their  concepts  about 
the  extramundane  world. 

They  have  no  idea  of  a  creator,  or  one  supreme  being  ( 19  : 108 ; 
69:437;  45:427),  but  have  a  belief  in  a  multitude  of  super 
natural  beings.  The  most  important  of  these  are  known  as 
* '  inua, ' '  or  owners,  a  word  which  has  a  common  derivation  with 
innuit.  (See  43:225;  69:437;  42:430;  19:110;  66:193; 
45:427.) 

1 '  Some  of  these  spirits  are  more  powerful  than  others  just  as  some 
men  are  more  skilful  and  shrewd  than  others.  Their  ideas  of  the  invisible 
world  are  based  on  conditions  of  the  present  life  with  which  they  are 
familiar."  (45:  428.) 


18  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

The  "inua"  are  imperceptible  to  the  ordinary  organs  of  sense, 
except  in  rare  instances.  They  manifest  themselves  to  particu 
larly  gifted  persons,  such  as  the  angakoks,  or  to  animals,  that  are 
endowed  with  a  peculiar  sense,  described  by  a  word  meaning 
literally  "not  being  unconscious  of  anything."  (53:  43.)  Rink 
says: 

"Strictly    speaking,    any    object,    or    combination    of    objects,  existing 

either  in   a  physical   or  spiritual  point  of  view,  may  be  said  to  have  its 

inua,  if  only,  in  some  way  or  other,  it  can  be  said  to  form  a  separate 
idea."  (53:  37;  cf.  43:  225.) 

The  angakoks,  or  magicians,  have  intercourse  with  the  super 
natural  world  by  the  aid  of  familiar  spirits,  called  tornaks. 
There  are  traces  of  a  rather  indefinite  belief  in  a  great  spirit, 
who  has  minor  tornaks  under  his  control.  He  is  called  Tor- 
narsuk.  Nansen  thinks  that  the  identification  of  this  being  with 
the  devil  by  the  missionaries  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his 
exalted  position  in  Eskimo  thought.  Paul  Egede  tells  of  a 
dispute  concerning  Tornarsuk's  immortality,  some  saying  he 
cannot  die,  others  holding  that  he  can  be  killed;  special  care 
must  be  taken  during  incantations  not  to  cause  his  death. 
(43:73,  197.) 

The  most  conspicuous  character  in  Eskimo  mythology  is  a 
woman,  generally  known,  from  her  name  among  some  of  the 
Central  tribes,  as  Sedna.  One  of  the  most  widespread  of  Eskimo 
myths  is  that  of  the  origin  of  Sedna.  She  is  said  to  have  refused 
to  marry  the  man  selected  for  her  by  her  father,  so  the  latter 
threw  her  overboard.  When  she  tried  to  save  herself,  he  cut  off 
her  fingers.  These  became  various  marine  animals.  She  lives 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  and,  to  use  the  words  of  Boas,  "she  has 
supreme  sway  over  the  destinies  of  mankind,"  (6:  119)  through 
her  control  of  the  offshoots  of  her  hand,  which  are  the  Eskimo's 
principal  means  of  subsistence.  (19  :  111 ;  69  :  440 ;  33  :  43  ; 
30 :  114 ;  52  : 17 ;  5  :  583 ;  43  :  150 ;  see  Miss  Wardle's  study  of  the 
Sedna  cycle,  71:568-580.) 

A  large  place  is  held  also  by  the  souls  of  the  dead.  Honor, 
must  be  paid  to  them  and  the  death-taboos  must  be  observed,  for 
the  dead  are  very  powerful.  A  human  being,  according  to  the 
Eskimo,  consists  of  at  least  two  parts,  body  and  soul.  Sometimes 
a  third  part  is  spoken  of,  identified  with  the  name.  Also  there 
is  found  a  belief  in  several  souls.  Thus  in  East  Greenland, 


GILBERTSON:    ESKIMO  CULTURE  19 

"a  man  has  many  souls.  The  largest  dwell  in  the  larynx  and  in  the  left 
side,  and  are  tiny  men  about  the  size  of  a  sparrow.  The  other  souls  dwell 
in  other  parts  of  the  body  and  are  the  size  of  a  finger  joint.  If  one  of 
them  is  taken  away,  its  particular  member  sickens."  (30:  112.) 

The  soul  can  be  seen  under  certain  conditions  by  the  angakoks. 
There  is  evidence,  linguistic  and  otherwise,  connecting  the  soul 
with  the  shadow  and  the  breath.  (43 :  226.)  The  soul  can  leave 
the  body,  as  in  dreams.  It  can  be  lost,  or  stolen  by  witchcraft. 
Refusal  to  be  photographed  can  be  thus  explained.  Nelson  tells 
an  incident  where  an  Eskimo,  on  seeing  the  figures  on  the  ground 
glass  of  a  camera,  shouted  to  his  fellows,  ''He  has  all  of  your 
shades  in  his  box, ' '  whereupon  ' '  a  panic  ensued  among  the  group 
and  in  an  instant  they  disappeared  in  their  houses."  (45:  422; 
cf .  1.  2:11;  33  :  41.  For  similar  fear  of  having  writing  in  a  book 
in  their  presence,  see  4:  396.)  The  loss  of  the  soul  results  in  ill 
ness,  which  can  be  cured  by  the  angakok's  fetching  the  soul  back 
again : 

"The  strangest  thing  of  all  is  that  the  soul  could  not  only  be  lost 
in  its  entirety,  but  that  pieces  of  it  could  also  go  astray;  and  tthe 
angakok  had  to  be  called  to  patch  it  up."  (43:  228;  cf.  50:  101.) 

Animals  too  have  their  souls,  with  similar  attributes  to  the 
human.  (45:  423;  50:  111.)  Indeed  the  two  soul-species,  if  we 
may  so  call  them,  appear  to  be  interchangeable.  The  angakoks 
sometimes  provide  a  man  whose  soul  has  been  lost  beyond 
recovery,  with  a  new  one  obtained  from  some  animal.  (43  :  228.) 

Now  the  animals,  like  the  souls  of  the  dead,  are  offended  by 
the  transgression  of  taboos.  The  best  account  of  this  feature,  in 
its  relation  to  the  Sedna  belief,  is  given  by  Boas,  in  his  descrip 
tion  of  the  Eskimo  of  Cumberland  Sound  and  Hudson  Bay.  The 
violation  of  a  taboo,  proscribed  after  the  killing  of  certain  sea- 
animals,  becomes  attached  to  the  soul  of  the  slain  animal,  that 
takes  it  down  to  Sedna.  The  attachments  cause  her  pain,  for 
which  she  punishes  the  guilty  people,  by  sending  them  sickness, 
bad  weather,  and  starvation. 

"If,  on  the  other  hand,  all  taboos  have  been  observed,  the  sea-animals 
will  allow  themselves  to  be  caught :  they  will  even  come  to  meet  hunters. ' ' 

This  shows  as  Boas  points  out,  that 

"The  object  of  the  innumerable  taboos  that  are  in  force  after  the  killing 
of  these  sea-animals  is  to  keep  their  souls  free  from  attachments  that 
would  hurt  their  souls  as  well  as  Sedna"  (6:  120). 


20  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

But  not  only  offences  which  directly  pertain  to  the  animals 
bring  about  these  consequences.  Among  all  the  Eskimo  is  found 
the  dread  of  touching  dead  bodies  and  rules  for  those  who  have 
from  necessity  or  accident  done  so. 

"The  souls  of  the  sea-animals  are  endowed  with  greater  powers  than 
those  of  ordinary  human  beings.  They  can  see  the  effect  of  contact  with 
a  corpse,  which  causes  objects  touched  by  it  to  appear  dark  in  color; 
and  they  can  see  the  effect  of  flowing  human  blood,  from  which  a  vapor 
arises  that  surrounds  the  bleeding  person  and  is  communicated  to  every 
one  and  every  thing  that  comes  in  contact  with  such  a  person.  This 
vapor  and  the  dark  color  of  death  are  exceedingly  unpleasant  to  the 
souls  of  the  sea-animals,  that  will  not  come  near  a  hunter  thus  affected. 
The  hunter  must  therefore  avoid  contact  with  people  who  have  touched 
a  body,  or  with  those  who  are  bleeding,  more  particularly  wdth  menstru 
ating  women  and  or  with  those  who  have  recently  given  birth.  If  any 
one  who  has  touched  a  body  or  who  is  bleeding  should  allow  others  to 
come  in  contact  with  him,  he  would  cause  them  to  become  distasteful  to 
the  seals,  and  therefore  to  Sedna  as  well.  For  this  reason  custo|m 
demands  that  every  person  must  at  once  announce  if  he  has  touched  a 
body,  and  that  women  must  make  known  when  they  are  menstruating 
or  when  they  have  had  a  miscarriage.  If  they  do  not  do  so,  they  will 
bring  ill  luck  to  all  the  hunters."  (Cf.  5:  583-595.) 

"The  transgressions  of  taboos  do  not  affect  the  souls  of  game  alone. 
It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  sea-mammals  see  their  effect  upon 
man  also,  who  appears  to  them  of  a  dark  color,  or  surrounded  by  a 
vapor  which  is  invisible  to  ordinary  man.  This  means,  of  course,  that 
the  transgression  also  affects  the  soul  of  the  evil-doer.  It  becomes 
attached  to  it,  and  makes  him  sick.  The  angakok  is  able  to  see  these 
attachments  with  the  help  of  his  guardian  spirit,  and  is  able  to  free 
the  soul  from  them.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  person  must  die.  In  many 
cases  the  transgressions  become  fastened  also  to  persons  who  come  in 
contact  with  the  evil-doer.  This  is  especially  true  of  children,  to  whose 
souls  the  sins  of  their  parents,  and  particularly  of  their  mothers,  become 
readily  attached.  Therefore,  when  a  child  is  sick,  the  angakok,  first  of 
all  asks  its  mother  if  she  has  transgressed  any  taboos."  (Cf.  26:  243.) 

"One  of  the  most  remarkable  traits  among  the  Central 
Eskimo,"  as  Boas  calls  it,  is  the  belief  that  "a  transgression,  or 
as  we  might  say,  a  sin,  can  be  atoned  for  by  confession. "  ( 5 : 121, 
cf.  5:491,  504,  512;  6:  592.)  He  notes  some  features  of  Green 
land  religious  beliefs,  which  indicate  a  similar  faith  in  the 
efficacy  of  confession.  (53 :  45,  391,  440.)  The  angiak,  or  spirit 
of  a  child  born  prematurely,  he  regards  as  "originally  identical 
with  attachment  of  the  soul  produced  by  transgression,  more 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  21 

particularly  with  that  produced  by  the  unconfessed  secret  abor 
tion  among  the  central  Eskimo."  (6:358.)  The  dire  conse 
quences  of  concealing  or  denying  crimes  other  than  taboo- 
violations,  in  this  case  murder,  is  illustrated  in  a  tale  recorded  by 
Rasmussen.  (50:128.) 

Boas  is  of  the  opinion  that  this  idea  that  the  confession  in 
itself  is  the  atonement  for  transgression  has  been  derived  from 
4 'the  importance  of  the  confession  of  a  transgression,  with  a 
view  to  warning  others  to  keep  at  a  distance  from  the  trans 
gressor,"  in  order  to  avoid  contamination  in  the  way  we  have 
noted.  (6:121.) 

He  concludes  that  "among  all  the  Eskimo  tribes  the  under 
lying  idea  of  the  taboo  is  the  protection  of  the  souls  of  the  dead, 
men  as  well  as  animals."  He  observes  that,  while  taboos  are 
found  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  ''they  are  not,  however,  always 
primarily  connected  with  the  idea  of  protecting  the  souls  of  the 
deceased."  He  recognizes,  therefore,  in  the  Eskimo  belief 

"a  specialized  form  of  a  more  general  belief.  It  must  have  existed 
in  this  specialized  form  among  the  ancestors  of  all  the  Eskimo  tribes, 
since  it  is  found  now  among  all  the  tribes  of  this  people." 

"Among  the  Central  tribes  this  group  of  beliefs  appears  still  more 
systematized  by  combining  the  idea  of  the  protection  of  the  soul  with 
that  of  a  protectress  of  the  sea-animals.  Not  only  is  the  soul  of  the 
dead  animal  hurt  by  the  infraction  of  the  taboo,  but  the  protectress  of 
the  animal  herself  is  affected."  (p.  365.) 

The  historical  origins  of  the  taboos  are  hid  in  obscurity.  The 
Eskimo  themselves  rarely  have  any  tradition  as  to  how  they  arose. 
As  we  have  seen,  their  all-sufficient  answer  is  the  immemorial 
usage  of  their  ancestors.  One  tradition  is  reported  from  Cum 
berland  Sound,  according  to  which  "in  the  early  times  of  our 
world  two  beings  gave  advice  to  the  people,  saying  that  when 
they  should  become  numerous  they  would  have  to  obey  certain 
customs."  (6:143.) 

One  striking  feature  of  the  Eskimo  taboos  we  may  note  here. 
As  Boas  says,  "it  seems  that  practically  everywhere  among  the 
Eskimo  a  considerable  number  of  taboos  have  the  effect  of  pre 
venting  contact  between  land-animals-  and  sea-animals."  (6: 
569.)  There  is  a  tradition  among  the  central  Eskimo  which 
accounts  for  the  origin  of  the  walrus  and  the  caribou  and  a 
supposed  dislike  between  these  two  animals.  (6: 122.) 


22  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

Boas  has  presented  what,  he  himself  rightly  says,  "seems  an 
attractive  hypothesis"  (6:570),  and  it  may  be  added,  a  very 
suggestive  one,  for  the  explanation  for  this  group  of  taboos.  To 
state  it  in  his  own  words : 

"The  Eskimo  taboo  forbidding  the  use  of  caribou  and  of  seal  on 
the  same  day  may  be  due  to  the  alternating  inland  and  coast  life  of 
the  people.  When  they  hunt  inland,  they  have  no  seals,  and  conse 
quently  can  eat  only  caribou,  and  of  course,  when  they  hunt  sea-animals, 
this  is  reversed. 

"From  the  simple  fact  that  for  a  long  period  the  two  kinds  of  meat 
could  not  be  eaten  at  the  same  time,  the  law  developed  that  the  two 
kinds  of  meat  must  not  be  eaten  at  the  same  time."  (9:  222.) 

A  good  summary  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  Eskimo  on 
the  raison  d'etre  of  this  striking  feature  of  their  moral  and 
religious  life  is  furnished  in  the  explanations  given  Rasmussen. 

"We  do  not  believe  in  any  God,  as  you  do,"  the  Eskimo  said.  "We 
do  not  all  understand  the  hidden  things,  but  we  believe  people  who  say 
they  do.  We  believe  our  magicians,  and  we  believe  them  because  we 
wish  to  live  long,  and  because  we  do  not  want  to  expose  ourselves  to  the 
danger  of  famine  and  starvation.  We  believe,  in  order  to  make  our  lives 
and  our  food  secure.  If  we  did  not  believe  the  magicians,  the  animals 
we  hunt  would  make  themselves  invisible  to  us;  if  we  did  not  follow  their 
advice,  we  should  fall  ill  and  die."  (50:  123.) 

"We  observe  our  old  customs,  in  order  to  hold  the  world  up,  for  the 
powers  must  not  be  offended.  .  .  .  We  observe  our  customs  in  order 
to  hold  each  other  up;  we  are  afraid  of  the  great  evil.  Men  are  so  help 
less  in  face  of  illness.  The  people  here  do  penance,  because  the  dead  are 
strong  in  their  vital  sap,  and  boundless  in  their  might.  If  we  did  not 
take  these  precautions  we  believe  that  great  masses  of  snow  would  slide 
down  and  destroy  us,  that  snowstorms  would  lay  us  waste,  that  the  sea 
would  rise  in  violent  waves  while  we  are  out  in  our  kayaks,  or  that  a 
flood  would  sweep  our  houses  out  into  the  sea."  (50:  124.) 

Typical  of  the  legends  which  are  related  to  show  "the  recoil 
of  the  action  on  the  doer,"  as  it  is  aptly  called,  is  one  recorded 
by  Rasmussen,  * '  The  man  who  did  not  perform  his  penance. ' ' 

This  individual  had  buried  his  wife,  "but  refused  to  observe  the  penances 
that  are  imposed  on  those  who  have  handled  corpses.  He  did  not  believe 
in  the  precepts  of  his  forefathers,  he  said."  He  deliberately  did  many 
things  which  he  was  forbidden  to  do,  in  order  "to  fling  defiance  at  what 
his  countrymen  believed.  It  was  all  lies,  he  said."  But  one  day  he  was 
found  torn  to  pieces,  "just  as  the  spirits  always  do  treat  people,"  so 
the  tale  ends,  "who  will  not  believe  in  the  traditions  of  their  fathers." 
(50:  133.) 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  23 

7.  "LIBERALISM" 

It  would  not  be  fair,  however,  to  leave  the  consideration  of 
the  attitude  of  the  Eskimo  on  customs  at  this  point,  as  many 
are  inclined  to  do,  in  the  case  of  the  Eskimo,  as  of  primitive 
peoples  in  general.  For  there  is  another  side  to  the  matter.  The 
Eskimo  mind  is  not  so  "ethnocentric"  and  "conservative," 
unsusceptible  to  new  influences  or  unappreciative  of  the  good 
in  others,  as  the  foregoing  might  lead  one  to  conclude,  if  that 
were  all  that  was  said.  First,  what  is  the  cause  of  conservatism 
among  them?  Is  it  the  inherent  state  of  the  brain  of  primitive 
man?  The  answer  is  rather  that  we  must  look  for  it  in  the 
conditions  of  their  environment  and  history.  In  their  hand-to- 
hand  struggle  for  existence  it  is  indispensable  to  survival  that 
they  adhere  to  those  things  which  have  been  tried  by  the  experi 
ence  of  generations.  "Is  it  not  wiser  to  bow  to  it,  and  obey, 
when  you  are  too  ignorant  to  draw  up  anything  better  for 
yourself."  (50:99.)  They  admit  that  even  their  wisest 
angakoks  are  not  omniscient  nor  the  traditional  means  of  con 
trolling  destiny  infallible.  As  Rasmussen  tells  us,  their  religious 
conceptions  "are  to  them,  not  the  only  possible  ones,  but  merely 
the  lest  that  they  knoiv,  through  the  traditions  of  their  fore 
fathers."  (50: 124.)  He  quotes  the  Eskimo  as  saying; 

"If  any  one  with  a  better  teaching  would  come  to  us  and  demand  that 
we  believe  his  words,  we  would  do  so  willingly,  if  we  saw  that  his  teach 
ing  was  really  better  than  ours.  Yes,  tell  us  the  right,  and  convince  us 
that  it  is  right,  and  we  will  believe  you." 

Appreciation  of  the  advantages  of  the  white  men  is  not  want 
ing.  They  confided  to  Paul  Egede : 

"You  know  so  much,  for  you  go  about  the  whole  world  both  by  land 
and  water.  We  know  nothing  but  what  our  ancestors  have  told  us.'7 
(20:  164;  cf.  20:  23;  46;  52;  12:  123;  16.  1:  125.) 

The  Eskimo  are  noted  for  two  traits  which  are  avenues  of  new 
influences,  curiosity  and  imitativeness.  Murdoch  writes  of  the 
natives  of  Point  Barrow,  "Their  curiosity  is  unbounded  and 
they  have  no  hesitation  in  gratifying  it  by  unlimited  question 
ing."  (42:42.)  Their  extreme  politeness  tends  to  counteract 
the  expression  of  their  curiosity.  Stefansson  found  Eskimo  who 
had  not  been  in  contact  with  white  men,  did  not  pry  into  others' 
affairs.  (58:  200.)  Peary  says  that 


24  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

"an  intense  and  restless  curiosity  is  one  of  the  peculiar  characteristics 
of  these  people.  If  confronted  with  a  package  containing  various  sup 
plies  unknown  to  them,  they  will  not  rest  until  they  have  examined  every 
article  of  the  lot,  touched  it,  turned  it  over,  and  even  tasted  it."  An  old 
woman  walked  a  hundred  miles  to  see  a  white  woman  (Mrs.  Peary). 
(48:  45.) 

The  same  authority  attributes  to  them  a  * '  marked  capacity  for 
imitation."  (48:61.)  They  very  soon  master  the  use  of  the 
tools  and  mechanical  arts  of  civilized  people,  and  readily  adopt 
such  as  serve  their  purposes,  as  for  instance,  the  rifle.  Their 
ability  "to  do  the  white  man's  work  with  the  white  man's  tools," 
as  Peary  puts  it,  has  been  an  indispensable  factor  in  Arctic  ex 
ploration.  (48:62,  see  also  30:181;  42:41.)  Dewey's  words, 
concerning  the  mind  of  a  hunting  people,  can  be  applied  literally 
to  the  Eskimo: 

1 '  Their  attention  is  mobile  and  fluid  as  is  their  life ;  they  are  eager 
to  the  point  of  greed  for  anything  which  will  fit  into  their  dramatic 
situations  so  as  to  intensify  skill  and  increase  emotion."  (18:  225.) 

Hutton  speaks  of  their  imitativeness  as 

"a  peg  to  hang  things  on  in  teaching  them  new  ways."  He  exclaims, 
4 '  Imitate !  I  have  never  seen  any  one  to  equal  them,  and  they  imitate 
so  thoroughly  too."  (33:  313.) 

Indeed,  there  appears  to  be  more  danger  from  too  ready 
imitation  of  the  not  always  desirable  traits  of  the  white  men 
than  from  too  great  adherence  to  their  own  time-honored  ways. 
(See  30:172;  1.  2:62,  91.) 

That  the  Eskimo  manifest  not  only  imitativeness,  but  inventive 
ness,  no  one  will  question  who  is  familiar  with  their  remarkable 
triumphs  in  that  line,  an  inventiveness  no  less,  when  their 
environment  and  resources  are  considered,  than  that  of  our  own 
branch  of  mankind.  They  are  even  experimenters  in  theoretical 
problems,  as  is  evidenced  by  an  account  given  by  Mason. 

"They  often  make  invention  a  part  of  their  sport.  They  go  out  to 
certain  difficult  places,  and  having  imagined  themselves  in  certain  straits, 
they  compare  notes  as  to  what  each  one  would  do.  They  actually  make 
experiments,  setting  one  another  problems  in  invention."  (40:  23). 

Our  position  that  it  is  environment  and  not  heredity,  to  use 
that  much  overworked  antithesis,  which  accounts  for  their  con 
servatism,  especially  in  matters  of  religious  belief  and  practice, 
where  it  is  most  pronounced,  is  strikingly  supported  by  Ras- 


GILBEKTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  25 

mussen  's  account  of  the  breakdown  of  the  ancient  religion  among 
the  natives  of  the  extreme  north  of  Greenland. 

While  "the  great  majority,"  writes  Easmussen,  still  "believe  blindly 
in  the  magician's  capacity  to  make  use  of  supernatural  forces,  and  the 
few  sceptics  who,  in  an  ordinary  way,  represent  a  certain  opposition,  are 
equally  keen  adherents  of  the  mysteries  at  crucial  moments  [italics 
mine],  yet  "their  magic  arts  are  degenerating  and  growing  more  and 
more  simplified.  The  Polar  Eskimo  are  well-to-do  folk;  there  are  animals 
enough  in  the  sea  and  meat  in  abundance;  they  are  strong,  healthy, 
energetic  people,  possessing  a  sufficiency  of  the  necessities  of  life  as 
demanded  by  an  existence  which  is,  according  to  their  ideas,  free  from 
care.  This  state  of  things  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  the  angakok  system 
is  not  so  highly  developed  there  as,  for  instance,  it  has  been  on  the 
east  coast,  where  the  struggle  for  existence  seems  to  be  much  more  severe, 
and  where  the  failure  of  the  fishery,  and  as  a  consequence  famine,  have 
been  more  frequent." 

"The  Polar  Eskimo  do  not  require  to  make  constant  appeals  to  the 
supernatural  powers,  and  that  is  why  their  magicians  have  gradually  for 
gotten  the  magic  arts  of  their  fathers."  (50:  156.) 


8.  LAW  AND  PUNISHMENT 

The  Eskimo  have,  of  course,  no  documentary  code  of  laws, 
nor  have  they  any  established  tribunals  of  administration  and 
judication.  But,  among  them,  "  customs  have,  by  their  long 
standing,  acquired  the  force  of  laws."  (16.  1:168.)  With 
regard  to  the  execution  of  these  traditional  laws  we  may  quote 
Rink  (53:32;  cf.  52:24): 

' '  With  the  exception  of  the  part  of  the  angakoks,  or  the  relatives  of 
the  offended  person,  took  in  inflicting  punishment  upon  the  delinquent, 
public  opinion  formed  the  judgment  seat."  (Italics  mine.) 

The  common  method  of  punishment  is  the  putting  of  the 
offender  to  shame  in  the  eyes  of  the  public ;  in  some  more  serious 
cases,  he  is  expelled  from  the  community;  only  in  rare  and 
extreme  cases  are  forcible  measures  taken.  It  is,  however,  in 
correct  to  say  that  "crimes,  if  committed,  go  unpunished." 
(24:80.) 

The  chief  reason  for  adhering  to  custom,  even  when  the  indi 
vidual  may  doubt  the  efficiency  of  some  of  the  traditional  rules 
is  given  as  "fear  of  ill  report"  among  his  fellows.  (16.  1: 168; 
25 :  569. )  The  Eskimo  are  said  to  be  very  sensitive  to  the 
opinions  of  others.  According  to  Nansen: 


26  JOUKNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

' '  It  now  and  then  happens  that  some  one  or  other  wounded,  perhaps, 
by  a  single  word  from  one  of  his  kinsfolk,  runs  away  to  the  mountains, 
and  is  lost  for  several  days."  (43:  267;  cf.  16.  1:  157;  45:  300.) 

A  remarkable  and  effective  method  of  putting  offenders  to 
shame  is  the  "drum-dance"  or  singing  combat,  described  by 
many  writers  on  Greenland.  (19  :  85  ;  52  :  24 ;  53  :  53  ;  51 :  141, 
150 ;  30 :  87,  157 ;  16.  1 : 164 ;  43  :  186. ) 

"The  so-called  nith-songs  were  used  for  settling  all  sorts  of  crimes 
or  breaches  of  public  order  or  custom,  with  the  exception  of  those  which 
could  only  be  expiated  by  death."  (Rink,  52:  24.) 

These  contests  took  place  at  "the  public  meetings  or  parties, 
which  at  the  same  time  supplied  the  national  sports  and  enter 
tainments."  (52:24.) 

The  procedure  was  briefly  as  follows:  If  a  person  (women 
as  well  as  men  could  carry  on  the  contest)  felt  himself  aggrieved 
by  another,  he  challenged  the  offender  to  meet  him  at  a  certain 
time  and  place  to  hold  a  singing  combat.  Each  of  the  parties 
then  prepared  satirical  songs  about  his  opponent.  At  the 
appointed  time,  before  the  assembled  people,  the  contestants,  by 
turns,  attacked  each  other  by  these  satires,  until  one  or  the 
other  had  exhausted  his  resources.  In  the  words  of  Rink,  "the 
cheering  or  dissent  of  the  assembly  at  once  represented  the  judg 
ment  as  well  as  the  punishment."  (53  :  34.)  It  appears  that,  in 
East  Greenland  at  least,  the  issue  is  not  always  decided  by  one 
performance,  but  the  contest  is  repeated,  so  that  it  can  stretch 
over  many  years.  (30:  7,  157.) 

On  the  value  of  this  judicial  system,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
the  verdict  of  the  Moravian  Crantz  (16.  1:  161.)  : 

' '  It  is  an  excellent  opportunity  of  putting  immorality  to  the  blush, 
and  cherishing  virtuous  principles.  Nothing  so  effectually  restrains  a 
Greenlander  from  vice  as  the  dread  of  public  disgrace,  and  this  pleasant 
way  of  revenge  even  prevents  many  from  wreaking  their  malice  in  acts 
of  violence  or  bloodshed.  Here  they  cite  each  other  to  appear  without 
risking  their  lives  in  the  duel,  or  wounding  each  other  with  envenomed 
pen. ' ' 

In  an  East  Greenland  tale  (31:257),  the  parties  in  a  blood- 
revenge  agree  not  to  kill  each  other,  but  settle  the  matter  with  a 
drum-dance. 

While,  in  the  contest,  they  are  at  liberty  to  lampoon  each  other 
to  their  hearts'  content,  as  soon  as  the  performance  is  over  they 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  27 

must  not  let  it  appear  that  there  has  been  any  trouble  between 
them.  Also  before  and  during  the  contests  no  bitter  feeling  must 
be  manifested.  It  happens  that  one  plays  the  part  of  host  to  his 
opponent.  (30:87.)  An  appearance  of  perfect  calm  should 
be  maintained  by  the  one  under  fire.  One  "made  his  indifference 
known  by  calling  on  the  spectators  to  shout  and  amuse  themselves 
over  him."  (53:332.) 

The  word  "nith-song"  is  of  Norse  derivation.  Tylor  was  of 
the  opinion  that  the  institution  itself  had  been  introduced  into 
Greenland  by  the  Norwegian  colonists.  (See  67:353.)  Its 
native  origin  is  now  generally  accepted.  (For  similar  customs 
among  the  western  Eskimo,  see  52 :  30 ;  45 :  347.  Consult  also 
Chamberlain,  28.  2  :  77 ;  for  examples  of  nith-songs  see  11 :  287  ; 
63:305;  31:330.) 

A  drastic  measure  for  maintaining  order  and  punishing 
delinquency,  and  one  very  rarely  employed,  is  expulsion. 
Typical  is  the  case  of  a  young  man  who  was  turned  out  of  the 
house  in  the  middle  of  winter.  (52:26.)  Rink  says,  "As 
to  the  possibility  of  maintaining  the  authority  of  law,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  members  in  these  isolated  communities 
are  more  immediately  dependent  on  their  fellowmen  than  the 
members  of  a  civilized  society,  and  that  what  is  considered  at 
the  most  a  trifling  inconvenience  in  the  latter,  may  be  a  severe 
punishment  in  the  former"  (52:24),  and  we  must  agree  with 
him  that  few  punishments  could  be  more  severe  than  "being 
suddenly  abandoned  without  shelter  in  the  depths  of  an  Arctic 
winter ; ' '  between  this  and  ' '  the  disagreeableness  of  being  shamed 
by  a  song  in  an  assembly,  several  degrees  of  punishment  may  be 
imagined  sufficient  to  deter  malicious  individuals  from  ordinary 
offences  or  disturbances  of  order  and  peace."  (52:  26.) 

Crimes  involving  punishment  by  death,  of  which  practically 
the  only  ones  are  murder  and  witchcraft  (which  latter,  accord 
ing  to  Eskimo  belief,  may  cause  death)  are  dealt  with  in  one  of 
two  ways;  usually  by  blood-revenge  on  the  part  of  the  kindred 
of  the  victim,  or,  in  a  few  cases,  by  the  concerted  action  of  the 
whole  community. 

Blood-revenge  is  considered  a  duty,  as  well  as  a  right,  among 
all  Eskimo.  It  is  one  phase  of  their  conception  of  justice.  What 
Kropotkin  says  of  the  Dayak  "head-hunter"  may  be  said  also 
of  the  Eskimo. 


28  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

' '  The  avenger  is  not  actuated  by  personal  passion.  .  .  .  He  acts 
under  what  he  considers  as  a  moral  obligation,  just  as  the  European  judge 
who,  in  obedience  to  the  same  principle  of  'blood  for  blood,'  hands  over 
the  condemned  murderer  to  the  hangman."  (38:  109.) 

There  is  a  belief  that  the  soul  of  the  murdered  person  does 
not  get  rest  till  he  is  avenged.     (66 : 186.) 

The  proper  agent  of  revenge  is  the  nearest  male  relative  of  the 
victim,  although  other  relatives  and  even  place-fellows  may  join. 
( 5 :  582 ;  53 :  35,  287,  446  ;  19 :  69 ;  50 :  61 ;  45 :  292. )  The  primary 
object  of  the  revenge  is  the  death  of  the  murderer  himself.  It 
is  said  to  be  usual  for  the  avenger  to  explain  to  the  murderer 
the  reason  for  his  taking-off.  ( 16.  1 : 177. )  But,  especially  if 
the  slayer  cannot  be  apprehended,  some  of  his  relatives  are  also 
liable  to  be  put  to  death.  There  appears  to  be  a  definite  idea 
of  personal  responsibility,  although  with  that  goes  communal 
liability  also.  Rink  classes  revenge  carried  out  on  some  kindred 
or  place-fellow  as  "neither  decidedly  admissive  nor  altogether 
unlawful."  (53 :  35.)  If  a  murdered  man  leaves  an  infant  son, 
the  latter  is  obliged  to  avenge  his  father's  death  as  soon  as  he 
arrives  at  puberty.  (45:292.)  This  is  a  frequent  theme  in 
folk-lore,  (e.  g.,  53:368,  450.)  The  boy's  training  has  this 
as  its  chief  end.  ' '  Now  thou  hast  seen  thy  father  killed,  it  will 
not  do  for  thee  to  grow  up  in  idleness,"  is  a  grandfather's 
admonition.  (53 :  355.)  At  the  conclusion  of  a  tale  of  this  type, 
Rink  gives  us  what  he  calls  the  "very  characteristic  remark" 
of  the  native  narrator: 

"It  is  generally  supposed  that  if  his  foster-father  had  not  continually 
excited  him  [to  revenge  the  murder  of  his  parents],  he  would  scarcely 
have  grown  to  be  so  immensely  strong."  (53:  207.) 

Boas  tells  us  of  a  strange  method  of  executing  the  blood- 
revenge  among  the  central  Eskimo. 

' '  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  murderer  will  come  to  visit  the  relatives 
of  his  victim  (though  he  knows  that  they  are  allowed  to  kill  him  in 
revenge)  and  will  settle  with  them.  He  is  kindly  welcomed  and  some 
times  lives  quietly  for  weeks  and  months.  Then  he  is  suddenly  challenged 
to  a  wrestling  match,  and  if  defeated,  is  killed,  or  if  victorious  he  may 
kill  one  of  the  opposite  party,  or  when  hunting  he  is  suddenly  attacked 
by  his  companions  and  slain/'  (5:  582;  cf.  53:  340.) 

Often  the  blood-feud  consists  of  a  long  series  of  retaliations, 
the  first  revenge  calling  forth  another,  and  so  on.  It  may  even 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  29 

be  handed  down  to  successive  generations.  (5:  582;  16.  1: 178; 
45 :  293 ;  50 :  62. )  Rink  is  of  the  opinion  that  continued  blood- 
revenge  is  less  decidedly  admissible  than  the  first  retaliation. 
(53:  35.)  Such  a  feud  may  be  concluded  by  mutual  agreement. 
(5:582;  34:70.) 

In  a  Greenland  tale,  a  man  planning  revenge  was  advised  by  an  old 
bachelor,  ' '  Thou  hadst  better  give  it  up  and  leave  thy  father  alone.  He 
was  only  paid  back  according  to  his  deserts,  being  himself  a  man-slayer. ' ' 
And  the  son  replied,  "Let  it  be  as  thou  proposest;  perhaps  I  shall  only 
get  new  foes  if  I  carry  out  my  thoughts  of  vengeance, ' '  and  so  the  parties 
were  reconciled.  (53:  340.) 

Capital  punishment,  as  the  result  of  deliberation  by  the  com 
munity,  was  inflicted  on  witches,  and  persons  regarded  as  danger 
ous  to  public  welfare.  (53:  35;  6: 117.)  According  to  Nansen, 
"in  cases  of  extreme  atrocity,  the  men  of  the  village  have  been 
known  to  make  common  cause  against  a  murderer,  and  kill  him." 
(43:163.)  A  very  interesting  procedure  is  described  by  Boas, 

"If  a  man  has  committed  a  murder  or  made  himself  odious  by  other 
outrages  he  may  be  killed  by  anyone  simply  as  a  matter  of  justice.  The 
man  who  intends  to  take  revenge  on  him  must  ask  his  countrymen  singly 
if  each  agrees  in  the  opinion  that  the  offender  is  a  bad  man  deserving 
death.  If  all  answer  in  the  affirmative  he  may  kill  the  man  thus  con 
demned  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  revenge  the  murder."  (5:  582.) 

As  stated  before,  the  Eskimo  believe  that  people  may  be  killed 
by  witchcraft,  so  that  witches  would  be  only  a  special  class  of 
homicides.  (16.  1:177;  19:113;  6:117.)  A  missionary  was 
explaining  how  God  punishes  wicked  people,  when  an  Eskimo 
remarked  that  "in  that  respect  he  was  like  God,  for  he  had 
killed  three  women  who  were  witches."  (43: 170.) 

9.  SOCIABILITY  AND  POLITENESS 

"If  we  take  the  term  savage  to  imply  a  brutal,  unsocial,  and  cruel 
disposition,  the  Greenlanders  are  not  entitled  to  the  appellation.  They 
are  not  untractable,  wild,  or  barbarous;  but  a  mild,  quiet,  and  good- 
natured  people."  These  words  of  Crantz  (16.  1:  169-70)  are  borne  out 
by  the  unanimous  testimony  of  all  students  of  the  Eskimo.  Their  ex 
perience  has  been  comparable  to  that  of  Cartwright,  who,  on  leaving  for 
Labrador,  noted  that  the  Eskimo  "have  always  been  accounted  the  most 
savage  people  upon  the  whole  continent  of  America."  (12:  13.)  At  the 
end  of  his  sixteen  years'  sojourn  among  them  he  wrote  in  his  journal, 
"They  are  the  best  tempered  people  I  ever  met  with,  and  the  most 
docile." 


30  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

As  an  example  of  their  disposition  we  may  cite  their  behavior 
in  the  communal  houses,  such  as  those  of  East  Greenland.  In 
one  such  house,  Holm  found  thirty-eight  persons,  of  eight  differ 
ent  families.  This  room,  be  it  remembered,  was  the  only  refuge 
of  all  these  people  during  the  long  darkness  of  the  Arctic  winter, 
here  they  did  their  sleeping,  cooking,  eating,  working,  dancing 
and  merrymaking. 

' '  And  yet, ' '  we  are  assured,  ' '  no  quarrel  disturbs  the  peace,  there  is 
no  dispute  about  the  use  of  the  narrow  space.  Scolding  or  even  unkind 
words  are  considered  a  misdemeanor  when  not  produced  under  the  legal 
form  of  process,  viz.,  the  nith-song."  (52:  26;  30:  74;  20:  150.) 

Crantz  declares 

' '  There  is  less  noise  and  confusion  in  a  Greenland  house  inhabited  by 
ten  couples  with  numerous  children  of  different  ages,  than  in  a  single 
European  one,  where  only  two  relations  reside  with  their  families. ' '  (  16.  1 : 
156.) 

Nansen  writes, 

"The  Greenlander  is  of  all  God's  creatures  gifted  with  the  best  dis 
position.  Good  humor,  peaceableness,  and  evenness  of  temper  are  the  most 
prominent  features  in  his  character.  He  is  eager  to  stand  on  as  good 
a  footing  as  possible  with  his  fellow-men,  and  therefore  refrains  from 
offending  them  and  much  more  from  using  coarse  terms  of  abuse.  He 
is  very  loth  to  contradict  another  even  should  he  be  saying  what  he 
knows  to  be  false;  if  he  does  so,  he  takes  care  to  word  his  remonstrance 
in  the  mildest  possible  form,  and  it  would  be  very  hard  indeed  for 
him  to  say  right  out  that  the  other  was  lying.  He  is  chary  of  telling 
other  people  truths  which  he  thinks  will  be  unpleasant  to  them;  in  such 
cases  he  chooses  the  vaguest  expressions,  even  with  reference  to  such 
indifferent  things  as,  for  example,  wind  and  weather.  His  peaceableness 
even  goes  so  far  that  wrhen  anything  is  stolen  from  him,  which  seldom 
happens,  he  does  not  as  a  rule  reclaim  it  even  if  he  knows  who  has  taken 
it."  (43:  101;  cf.  30:  182;  4:  372,  385;  21:  385;  66:  180.) 

So,  too,  Crantz  says  that  "they  are  patient  of  injuries,  and  will 
concede  their  manifest  rights  rather  than  engage  in  dispute.'* 
(16.  1:126.)  "No  one  interrupts  another  in  the  course  of  a 
conversation,  nor  do  they  willingly  contradict  each  other,  much 
less  give  way  to  clamorous  brawling."  (16.  1:  157.) 
Of  the  Eskimo  at  Point  Barrow,  Murdoch  states : 

"They  are  generally  peacable.  We  did  not  witness  a  single  quarrel 
among  the  men  during  the  two  years  of  our  stay."  He  had  reports  of 
fights,  due  to  white  men's  liquor.  "Many  of  them  show  a  grace  of 
manner  and  natural  delicacy  and  politeness  which  is  quite  surprising.  I 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  31 

have  known  a  young  Eskimo  so  polite  that  in  conversing  with  Lieut.  Ray 
he  would  take  pains  to  mispronounce  his  words  in  the  same  way  as  the 
latter  did,  so  as  not  to  hurt  his  feelings  by  correcting  him  bluntly."  (42: 
41  sqq.) 

It  is  said  that  the  Eskimo  language  does  not  contain  a  single 
epithet  of  reproach  or  abuse.  (16.  1 : 158,  170 ;  19  :  69.)  On  this 
point,  Hutton  writes : 

' '  However  aggravating  the  seals  may  be,  an  Eskimo  does  not  lose  his 
temper  over  his  hunting;  and  as  for  swearing — why,  the  Eskimo  language 
contains  no  oaths,  and  the  few  mild  remarks  that  an  Eskimo  can  make 
in  his  own  language  as  '  Kappianarmgk '  (how  dreadful)  or  '  ai>ai-kulluk ' 
(that  miserable  thing),  he  makes  where  they  can  be  applied  literally. 
Useless  expletives  are  as  foreign  to  his  nature  as  to  his  vocabulary."  (33: 
247.) 

Some  of  their  customs  are  indicative  of  their  civility.  Thus 
they  never  enter  another's  house  without  being  invited.  When 
they  come  in  they  do  not  sit  down  till  the  host  assigns  them  a 
seat,  (19 :  70.)  The  guests  do  not  enter  the  house  until  the  host 
has  gone  in  first.  (30 : 173.)  When  a  stranger  comes  to  a  house, 
he  must  never  ask  for  food,  no  matter  how  hungry  he  may 
be.  Nor  is  this  necessary,  on  account  of  the  universal  hospitality. 
When  food  is  set  before  the  visitor,  he  does  not  begin  to  eat 
immediately,  lest  he  be  thought  gluttonous.  All  the  people  of 
the  house  must  retire  before  the  guest  takes  to  his  sleeping-place. 
"It  is  regarded  ill  for  the  guest  to  retire  before  the  host." 
( 19 :  70. )  Also  it  is  not  polite  to  depart  while  the  host  is  awake. 
* '  When  the  host  began  to  snore,  the  guests  crept  quietly  away, ' ' 
says  Rasmussen  (50:42.) 

A  common  form  of  salutation  is  rubbing  of  noses,  a  custom 
which  is  falling  into  disuse  (42:422;  2.  1:  67)  ;  also  embracing 
and  caressing  (1.  1: 116,  122,  160).  Salutations  of  welcome  are 
not  known  in  East  Greenland,  but  farewell  greetings  are  common, 
such  as  "Be  careful  on  the  journey,"  or  "May  you  sail  in  open 
water."  (30:173.) 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  Eskimo's  patience  under 
injury.  Now  the  cause  of  this  is  not  insensitivity  to  the  opinions 
of  others,  for  as  we  have  pointed  out,  the  Eskimo  seems  to  be 
very  sensitive.  But  any  expression  of  wounded  feelings,  outside 
the  drum-dance,  is  inhibited  in  the  interests  of  public  peace  and 
concord.  Crantz'  statement  that  "When  a  Greenlander  considers 
himself  injured  by  a  neighbor,  he  retires  without  reprisals  into 


32  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

another  part  of  the  house"  (16.  1: 156),  is  significant  as  show 
ing  their  manner  both  of  suppressing  their  own  feelings  and  of 
preventing  trouble.  Rink  strikingly  sums  up  the  matter  when 
he  says,  ''The  general  mode  of  uttering  annoyance  at  an  offence 
is  by  silence."  (Cf.  1.  1:62.) 

Hans  Egede  tells  us  that  when  they  saw  the  sailors  quarrel 
and  fight  they  regarded  their  conduct  as  inhuman.  "They  do 
not  consider  each  other  as  human  beings,"  they  said.  When 
an  officer  struck  one  of  his  subordinates  they  said,  "He  treats 
his  fellow-men  as  dogs."  (19:69.)  A  Cumberland  Sound 
tale  gives  an  example  of  how  they  regard  ill-humored  and 
quarrelsome  people.  (6:285.) 

Their  disinclination  to  dispute  an  argument  leads  to  an 
appearance  of  great  credulity,  even  when  they  themselves  have 
their  doubts.  Paul  Egede  relates  an  incident  when,  "from 
courtesy,  everybody  believed  all  I  said.  Then  women  requested 
needles  from  me  for  their  willingness  to  believe."  (20:123; 
cf.  19:126.)  When  a  missionary  expressed  skepticism  about 
their  assertion  that  they  had  killed  a  bear  which  was  so  big  that 
the  ice  on  its  back  never  melted,  they  said,  "We  have  believed 
what  you  tell  us,  but  you  will  not  believe  what  we  tell  you." 
(43:310.) 


10.  SENSE  OF  JUSTICE  AND  MERCY 

We  find  evidence  not  only  of  forbearance  with  injuries  but 
actual  forgiveness,  even  in  cases  where  severe  punishment  would 
be  justifiable.  Hall  tells  us  of  an  old  man  who  confessed  the 
wrong  he  had  done  another  years  ago  (deserting  him  when  starv 
ing).  The  latter  avowed  that  he  no  longer  retained  any  ill- 
feeling.  "Then  the  two  men  sealed  their  renewed  friendship 
with  jests."  (26:278.)  Two  Greenland  tales  strikingly  illus 
trate  the  principle  of  returning  good  for  evil. 

In  one  a  father  had  been  tormented  by  suitors  for  his  daughter,  be 
cause  he  would  not  give  her  up.  The  family  had  to  move  away.  But 
' '  intelligence  reached  them  that  the  men  who  had  once  scorned  and  abused 
them  were  living  in  great  want,  and  the  old  man  determined  to  help 
them, ' '  which  he  did.  ' '  Ye  said  that  ye  would  deny  me  your  assistance 
if  ever  I  came  in  want,  now  help  yourself,  if  ye  please,  and  eat  as  much 
as  ever  ye  like."  (53:  185.)  Another  tells  of  a  poor  orphan  boy,  whom 
a  wicked  man  scorned  and  scared.  The  boy,  by  magic,  secured  the  man's 
harpoon  and  hunting  bladder.  He  invited  all  the  men  to  come  to  a 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  33 

feast,  the  bad  man  among  them.  He  had  hung  up  the  bladder-float  along 
with  the  harpoon-line  on  the  peg  in  the  wall,  and  while  the  old  man  was 
prating  of  his  chase  and  loss,  he  pointed  to  them,  saying,  "Look,  there 
are  all  thy  hunting  tools,  and  thou  canst  take  them  away  with  thee  when 
thou  goest  home."  "The  old  man  looked  quite  abased  iand  left  the 
party  in  a  somewhat  confused  state. "  (53:  124-126.)  A  primitive  David 
and  Saul  motive. 

As  showing  their  sense  of  both  justice  and  mercy,  some 
recorded  conversations  are  instructive. 

They  asked  Paul  Egede,  if  the  new  religion  was  so  essential,  why  God 
had  not  given  them  the  instruction  before,  so  that  their  fathers  could 
have  come  to  heaven  (20:24).  The  missionary  said  that  perhaps  God 
had  seen  that  they  would  not  accept  the  Word,  but  rather  despise  it, 
and  thereby  become  more  guilty.  One  old  man  said  he  had  known  many 
excellent  people;  his  own  father  had  been  a  pious  man. 

They  could  not  understand  how  the  sin  which  Adam  and  Eve  com 
mitted  could  be  so  great  as  to  involve  such  dire  consequences,  as  that 
all  mankind  should  be  condemned  on  account  of  it.  l '  Since  God  knew 
all  things,  why  did  he  permit  the  first  man  and  woman  to  sin?"  they 
asked.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  Adam  and 
Eve  were  very  foolish  to  chatter  with  a  serpent  and  "they  must  have 
been  very  fond  of  fruit  since  they  would  rather  die  and  suffer  pain  than 
forego  a  few  big  berries."  But  then  it  was  just  like  the  Kablunas; 
"these  greedy  people  never  have  enough;  they  have,  and  ;they  want 
to  have,  more  than  they  require." 

They  inquired  why  God  did  not  help  the  children  of  Israel  to  over 
come  their  enemies,  the  Egyptians,  and  spare  the  Canaanites,  who  had 
done  nothing  against  them.  (20:  162.) 

They  also  wanted  to  know  if  God  can't  do  what  he  wants  men  to  do, 
viz.,  forgive  offenses,  without  such  terrible  punishments.  (20:  17.)  One 
said  if  the  Son  of  God  is  such  a  terrible  being  as  to  put  people  in  ever 
lasting  fire  he  did  not  want  to  go  to  heaven.  (16.  2:  41,)  Others  thought 
the  Son  must  be  matchlessly  good,  but  the  Father  have  a  hard  and 
ferocious  disposition.  (20:  17.) 

A  girl  told  a  missionary  she  could  not  believe  that  God  was  so  cruel 
as  he  represented  him  to  be;  he  had  said  that  all  her  forefathers  were 
to  be  tormented  to  all  eternity,  because  they  did  not  know  God.  She 
defended  them  on  the  ground  that  they  did  not  know  any  better  and 
finally  said  "it  was  horrible  for  her  to  learn  that  God  was  so  terribly 
angry  with  those  who  sinned  that  he  could  never  forgive  them,  as  even 
wicked  men  sometimes  do."  (20:  221.) 

An  angakok  came  to  Paul  Egede  and  said,  "I  have  heard  tell  of  a 
virgin  in  your  land  who  had  a  son,  who  was  a  great  angakok  and  could 
do  wonderful  things,  cure  all  kinds  of  diseases,  and  even  make  the  dead 
alive  again,  and  that  your  forefathers  have  slain  this  great  angakok,  and 
that  he  later  became  living,  and  went  to  heaven.  Had  he  come  here 
to  us,  we  should  have  loved  him  and  been  obedient  to  him.  So  crazy 


34  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

people  we  haven't  among  us.  What  madmen  to  kill  one  who  could  bring 
the  dead  to  life!  Why  did  he  not  kill  these  bad  people,  and  come  over 
to  us,  we  should  have  better  appreciated  him."  (20:  20.) 

An  experience  of  some  Eskimo  in  Copenhagen  also  shows 
their  view  of  the  justice  of  human  affairs : 

Nearly  the  wrhole  city  came  to  look  at  these  strange  people.  When 
they  saw  the  porter  taking  money  to  let  people  in,  they  thought  it  was 
they  who  should  have  the  money  who  were  being  looked  at.  They  ought 
also,  they  said,  to  have  something  for  so  often  hearing  that  they  were  not 
handsome.  In  Denmark  there  must  be  a  different  custom  than  in  their 
country.  There  the  small  girls  call  through  the  windows  to  the  others, 
"You  are  pretty,"  and  the  answer  from  within  is,  "Come  in."  Then 
the  girls  outside  give  a  present.  ' '  But  here  it  is  always,  '  You  are  ugly, ' 
and  to  get  in  to  see  us,  they  give  the  porter  money,  which  we  ought  to 
have  for  our  ugliness,  since  it  is  so  strange  among  you  to  see  ugly  people. ' ' 
(20:  39.) 

The  following  incident  shows  their  fine  sense  of  sympathy : 

Several  of  the  Eskimo  Cartwright  brought  to  England  died  on  the 
voyage,  much  to  his  sorrow  as  well  as  that  of  their  relatives  and  friends 
in  Labrador.  But  the  latter,  so  he  tells  us,  ' ( no  sooner  observed  my 
emotion,  than,  mistaking  it  for  the  apprehension  which  I  was  under  for 
fear  of  their  resentment,  they  instantly  seemed  to  forget  their  own  feel 
ings,  to  relieve  those  of  mine.  They  pressed  round  me,  clasped  my  hands, 
and  said  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  convince  me  that  they  did  not 
entertain  any  suspicion  of  my  conduct  toward  their  departed  friends. ' ' 
(12:  139.) 

Their  fellow-feeling  even  with  the  brute  creation  is  shown  in 
their  words  at  seeing  a  man  on  horseback.  They  expressed 
"great  compassion  for  the  poor  beast,  whose  unfortunate  lot 
it  was  to  carry  so  great  a  weight  at  such  a  rate. "  ( 12 : 128. ) 

11.  HOMICIDE  AND  WAR 

From  the  peaceable  nature  of  the  Eskimo,  we  would  expect  to 
find  homicide  of  infrequent  occurrence,  and  the  evidence  bears 
out  this  supposition.  Nansen  says,  ' '  Murder  is  very  rare.  They 
hold  it  atrocious  to  kill  a  fellow-creature."  (43: 162.)  Important 
is  the  testimony  of  Hans  Hendrik,  the  Christian  Eskimo  from 
the  Moravian  mission,  who  found  to  his  surprise  and  relief, 
when  among  non-Christian  tribes,  that  "notwithstanding  their 
being  unbaptized,  they  abhor  manslaughter."  (27:42.) 

A  dissenting  opinion  is  expressed  by  Holm ;  of  the  East  Green- 
landers  he  says  that  "murder  is  frequent  when  one  takes  into 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  35 

account  the  sparseness  of  the  population."  (30:87.)  It  does 
not  appear  that  he  is  here  speaking  as  an  eye-witness.  And,  in 
another  place,  in  relating  several  accounts  of  murders,  given  him 
by  the  natives,  he  says  that  the  stories  are  possibly  only  legends, 
embodying  the  accumulated  and  exaggerated  events  of  hundreds 
of  years.  He  also  states  that  frequently  they  accuse  each  other 
in  their  nith-songs  of  attempts  at  murder,  with  no  basis  in  fact. 
These  considerations  tend  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  accuracy  of 
his  first  statement. 

But,  of  course,  it  would  be  running  in  the  teeth  of  facts  to 
assert  that  murders  never  take  place.  As  Rink  says,  "the 
passions  of  the  people  tending  to  ambition,  domineering,  or  the 
mere  fancy  for  making  themselves  feared,  sometimes  gave  rise 
to  violence  and  murder. "  ( 53 :  34. )  In  another  connection 
we  discuss  the  punishments  for  murder.  The  place  it  occupies 
in  their  criminal  law  is  shown  from  the  fact  that  it  is  practically 
the  only  offense  punishable  by  death.  Nelson  tells  us  that  "a 
man  who  has  killed  another  can  be  recognized  by  the  restless 
expression  of  his  eye."  (45:293.) 

Folk-lore  abounds  in  stories  of  homicide  and  its  revenge.  But 
this  is  no  index  to  a  corresponding  frequency  in  real  life.  As 
Matthews  well  says, 

''It  is  nothing  to  us  that  a  horrid  crime  (as  we  regard  it)  is  described 
in  a  tale,  for  the  story-tellers  of  all  ages  and  of  all  races  have  delighted 
to  thrill  their  hearers  with  such  tales,  and,  as  civilization  advances,  this 
delight  seems  to  increase  rather  than  to  diminish."  (41:  2.) 

We  may  here  say  a  few  words  about  war  and  the  Eskimo. 
There  is  scanty  support  among  this  people  for  the  thesis,  "War 
is  the  normal  condition  of  savagery."  (Mooney,  Catholic  En 
cyclopedia,  VII,  751.)  Paul  Egede,  long  ago,  wrote  that  "the 
Oreenlanders  do  not  know  of  war,  and  therefore  have  no  word 
for  it."  (20:138.)  According  to  Nansen, 

"War  is  in  their  eyes  incomprehensible  and  repulsive;  .  .  .  soldiers 
and  officers,  brought  up  in  the  trade  of  killing,  they  regard  as  mere 
butchers."  (43:  162.) 

An  instructive  incident  is  told  by  Amundsen: 

An  Eskimo,  who  had  agreed  to  go  with  the  expedition,  suddenly  be 
came  melancholy,  and  sobbing  bitterly  said  he  did  not  want  to  go  to 
the  land  of  the  white  men,  as  they  might  kill  him.  Assurances  were  of 
no  avail,  "he  would  not  be  convinced,  and  pointed  to  some  pictures  of 
the  Boer  War."  (1.  2:  92.) 


36  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

We  find  in  this  respect,  as  in  so  many  others,  the  western 
Eskimo  an  exception.  They  have  engaged  in  wars  between  the 
tribes  as  well  as  with  the  Indians.  (45 :  327  ;  32 : 130 ;  34 :  150 ; 
21:388.)  Sometimes  a  certain  number  of  men  were  chosen  on 
either  side  to  fight  it  out  as  representatives  of  the  tribe,  the 
rest  of  the  tribe  remaining  at  peace.  (34:  227.) 

As  Eink  points  out,  among  the  western  Eskimo,  "in  connec 
tion  with  warfare  among  the  tribes  it  has  even  led  to  the  keeping 
of  slaves,  of  all  habits  the  one  apparently  most  at  variance  with 
Eskimo  social  life."  (52:28;  cf.  32:78.)  The  evidence  from 
the  Eskimo  supports  Westermarck 's  position  that  "the  earliest 
source  of  slavery  was  war  or  conquest."  (71.  1:  674.) 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  Eskimo's  aversion  to  strife 
would  be  coupled  with  a  lack  of  courage.  But  facts  show  that 
such  is  not  the  case.  In  the  western  tribes,  who  engage  in  war 
with  each  other  and  the  Indians,  martial  courage  is  not  wanting. 
But  even  to  that  great  majority  who  live  in  peace  with  all  men, 
no  one  would  deny  the  possession  of  courage,  who  knows  the 
bravery  of  the  undaunted  hunters  of  land  and  sea.  (See  42  :  42 ; 
5 :  574. )  As  Crantz  says  of  the  kayaker,  * '  He  dreads  no  storm ; 
as  long  as  a  ship  can  carry  its  topsails,  he  braves  the  mountain 
ous  billows."  (16.  1 : 139.)  The  Eskimo  in  his  kayak  is  not  onty 
"an  object  of  wonder  and  delight,"  as  Crantz  calls  him,  for  his 
marvellous  skill,  but  also  one  of  the  sublimest  examples  of  human 
daring  and  self-reliance,  of  personal  courage  vastly  greater  than 
that  required  to  keep  step  with  an  army  to  the  field  of  battle. 
Alone  he  courts  the  dangers  of  the  icy  deep  and  challenges  and 
conquers,  single-handed,  the  dread  powers  of  nature. 


12.  TRUTHFULNESS  AND  GOOD  FAITH 
Says  Nansen: 

"One  of  the  most  prominent  and  attractive  traits  in  the  Eskimo  is 
certainly  his  integrity.  If  some  Europeans  have  denied  him  this  virtue, 
it  can  only  be  I  am  sure,  because  these  gentlemen  have  not  taken  the 
trouble  to  place  themselves  in  sympathy  with  his  modes  of  thought,  and 
to  realize  what  he  regards  as  dishonorable.  It  is  of  special  importance 
for  the  Eskimo  that  he  should  be  able  to  rely  with  confidence  upon 
his  neighbors  and  his  fellow-men;  it  is  the  first  condition  of  this  mutual 
confidence,  on  which  depends  all  united  action  in  the  battle  of  life,  that 
every  man  shall  be  upright  in  his  dealings  with  his  neighbors."  (43: 
157  sq.) 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  37 

He  quotes  Dalager  to  the  effect  that  they  "shrink  from  relating 
anything  which  they  are  unable  to  substantiate."  (43:126.) 
The  last-named  authority  gives  the  women  a  less  clean  record 
in  this  regard  than  the  men,  a  view  which  is  also  held  by  Crantz. 
(16.  1:175.) 

Murdoch  found  the  Eskimo  "generally  truthful,  though  a 
detected  lie  is  hardly  considered  more  than  a  good  joke." 
(42:41.)  The  context  seems  to  indicate  this  last  clause  refers 
particularly  to  their  relation  with  foreigners.  It  may  be  noted 
that  Amundsen  and  Stefansson,  who  both  had  opportunity  to 
observe  many  different  tribes,  agree  that  natives  who  have  not 
been  in  contact  with  white  men  are  more  truthful  and  honor 
able  in  every  respect.  (58:200.) 

It  is  undeniably  true  that  some  Eskimo  resort  to  deception 
in  their  relations  with  foreigners,  particularly  in  trading- 
transactions.  Holm  found  it  one  of  their  practices  to  offer 
the  poorest  things  first.  (30:168.)  Some  natives  tried  to  sell 
Beechey's  party  fish  skins  "ingeniously  put  together,  so  as  to 
represent  a  whole  fish,  although  totally  deprived  of  their  interior 
substance."  (4:391.)  Similar  tricks  were  tried  on  the  Point 
Barrow  expedition.  "They  brought  over  the  carcass  of  a  dog, 
with  the  skin,  head,  feet,  and  tail  removed,  and  tried  to  sell 
it  for  a  young  reindeer, ' '  and  again  when  the  party  were  buying 
seal  oil  from  the  Eskimo,  "one  woman  brought  over  a  tin  can 
nearly  filled  with  ice,  with  merely  a  layer  of  oil  on  top."  Also 
clothing  and  other  articles  made  for  sale  to  the  visitors  were 
carelessly  made,  compared  with  the  care  they  put  on  their  own 
things.  (42:41.)  It  is  only  fair  and  perhaps  significant  to 
compare  with  these  reports  the  experience  of  Dalager,  one  of 
the  first  Danish  merchants  in  Greenland: 

"In  describing  a  thing  to  another  person,  they  are  very  careful  not 
to  paint  it  in  brighter  colors  than  it  deserves;  especially  in  the  sale  of 
an  object  which  the  buyer  has  not  seen,  even  though  the  seller  may  be 
anxious  to  get  rid  of  it,  he  will  depreciate  it  rather  than  overpraise  it." 
(Quoted  43:  158.) 

Turner  testifies  to  their  respect  for  probity  in  others : 

"They  form  a  permanent  attachment  for  the  white  man  who  deals 
honestly  and  truthfully  with  them,  but  if  he  attempts  any  deception  or 
trickery,  they  are  certain  to  be  ever  suspicious  of  him,  and  it  is  diffir 
cult  to  regain  their  favor."  (66:  180.) 


38  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

How  untruthfulness  is  regarded  as  a  disgrace  is  strikingly 
shown  in  an  incident  related  by  Cartwright.  After  the  Eskimo 
he  brought  to  London  had  seen  St.  Paul's,  he  asked  them  how 
they  would  describe  the  cathedral  to  their  countrymen  in 
Labrador ;  to  which  they  replied  that  they  would  mention  neither 
it,  nor  many  other  things  that  they  had  seen,  lest  they  be  called 
liars,  from  the  seeming  impossibility  of  such  facts.  (12:124; 
cf.  26 :  348.)  There  is  truth  as  well  as  poetry  in  an  Eskimo  song, 
whose  burden  is,  * '  We  are  accustomed  to  have  trustworthiness. ' ' 
(63:309.)  Tales  like  "The  woman  who  told  a  lie,"  show  the 
Eskimo  attitude  reflected  in  folk-lore.  (50:  60.) 

Especially  do  the  Eskimo  appear  in  a  favorable  light  in  their 
faithfulness  to  a  promise  or  contract.  Peary  asserts,  "An 
Eskimo  never  forgets  a  broken  promise — nor  a  fulfilled  one." 
I  have  not  discovered  a  single  charge  against  an  Eskimo  of 
breach  of  good  faith,  using  this  last  term  in  the  sense  of  ' '  fidelity 
to  promises,  which  should  make  facts  correspond  with  our  em 
phatic  assertions  as  to  our  conduct  in  the  future."  (71.  2:  72.) 

Rink's  statement  that  "nothing  was  sold  on  credit,  at  least  not 
without  being  paid  for  very  soon"  (53:29)  is  uncorroborated 
by  other  authorities.  According  to  Crantz,  "the  purchaser  can 
take  a  thing  on  credit  if  he  has  not  the  means  of  payment." 
And  that  considerable  time  is  allowed  for  payment  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  if  the  debtor  dies  before  the  debt  is 
discharged, 

' '  The  creditor  must  not  afflict  the  disconsolate  mourners  by  remem 
brance  of  the  deceased,  but  after  some  interval  he  may  reclaim  the  article 
bartered,  provided  it  is  not  lost  in  the  scramble  which  usually  succeeds 
the  funeral.  This  lenient  system  goes  so  far  that,  if  a  person  loses  or 
breaks  an  article  taken  upon  credit,  he  is  not  held  to  his  agreement." 
(16:  1:  167;  cf.  Dalager,  quoted  43:  111.) 

The  Eskimo  of  Bering  Strait  commonly  demanded  their  pay 
in  advance  when  asked  to  do  anything  for  white  men,  and 
hesitated  or  even  refused  to  give  white  men  any  article  of  value 
without  being  paid  at  the  time.  Nelson  attributes  this  to  a 
distrust  of  strangers ;  is  this  another  instance  of  unpleasant 
memories  1  Amundsen  tells  us  his  credit  among  the  Nechilli  was 
1 ' really  flattering. "  "In  the  beginning  the  Eskimo  were  rather 
astonished  at  receiving  a  piece  of  paper  instead  of  a  knife  or 
fifty  cartridges,  but  when  they  understood  the  meaning  of  it  my 
paper  was  always  accepted  as  good  as  payment."  Some  were 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  39 

presented  a  whole  year  later,  when  they  were  honored  "to  their 
great  delight."  (1.  2:64;  cf.  3:299.)  Among  the  very  same 
Eskimo  spoken  of  above  as  so  distrustful  of  the  whites,  Nelson 
states  that  it  was 

' '  A  constant  practice  to  obtain  credit  at  the  trading  stations  to  be  paid 
for  when  they  should  have  procured  the  necessary  skins/'  And  he  adds 
that  they  were  "very  honest,  paying  all  debts  contracted  in  this  way," 
in  many  cases  when  the  trader  would  have  had  no  means  of  obtaining 
his  pay.  He  remarks  that  * '  a  curious  part  of  this  custom  was  that  very 
often  the  same  Eskimo  who  would  be  perfectly  honest  and  go  to  great 
trouble  and  exertion  to  settle  a  debt,  would  not  hesitate  to  steal  from 
the  same  trader. "  (45:  294.) 

I  find  in  this  fact  an  illustration  of  their  strict  fidelity  to  a 
promise,  as  compared  with  a  rather  disrespectful  attitude  toward 
uncovenanted  property.  Cartwright  relates  a  striking  and 
significant  incident ;  an  Eskimo  ' '  absolutely  refused  to  part  with 
a  bundle  of  whalebone,  which  he  brought  to  pay  a  debt  with; 
notwithstanding  I  assured  him  that  the  person  to  whom  he  owed 
it  was  not  in  this  country,  nor  would  ever  return  to  it." 
(12:296.)  Amundsen  tells  of  a  native  mail-carrier,  who 
although  urged  by  his  family  to  remain  at  home  to  take  care 
of  an  injury, 

"withstood    all    temptations,    and    continued    on   his   route.     .      .      .  He 

was  stimulated  by  a  desire  to  prove  that  he  was  a  man  of  his  word.  He 

was  especially  delighted  at  the  praise  I  gave  him  for  his  integrity  and 
sense  of  honor."  (1.  2:  76;  cf.  1.1:  196.) 

Westermarck  says  that  ' '  the  regard  in  which  truth  is  held  by 
the  Eskimo  seems  to  vary  among  different  tribes."  (71.  2:  75.) 
There  is  no  reason  why  such  a  statement  may  not  be  made  of 
different  individuals  of  the  same  tribe-  Because  a  traveler 
happens  to  encounter  an  honest  man  in  New  York  and  a  dis 
honest  one  in  Chicago,  it  would  hardly  do  to  say  that  American 
cities  differ  in  honesty.  Indeed,  we  have  evidence  that  quite 
opposite  types  of  character  may  be  found  in  one  and  the  same 
Eskimo  community.  Even  allowing  full  face  value  to  all  damag 
ing  evidence,  after  a  careful  consideration  of  all  available  data 
I  think  there  is  no  reason  why  we  may  not  say  of  the  Eskimo 
what  Matthews  does  of  the  Indians,  that  they  are  "  not  less 
truthful  than  the  average  of  our  race. ' '  Also  it  is  well  to  bear 
in  mind,  what  this  same  writer  reminds  us  of,  that  "all  people, 
in  all  times,  have  found  it  convenient  to  condone  a  certain 


40  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

amount  of  falsehood.  The  ethical  boundaries  of  veracity  have 
never  been  exactly  defined."  (41:  5;  italics  mine.) 

We  may  consider  here  briefly  a  phase  which  is  of  special 
importance  in  connection  with  their  religious  and  social  life, 
namely  the  honesty  of  the  magicians  or  angakoks  in  their  rela 
tions  with  the  people  and  with  the  spirit-world.  Some,  like 
Crantz,  believe  that  "the  coarse  imposture  of  the  whole  process 
is  palpably  manifest;"  "the  great  majority  of  the  angakoks  are 
doubtless  mere  jugglers ; ' '  although  he  admits  that 

"the  class  includes  a  few  persons  of  real  talent  and  penetration  and 
perhaps  a  greater  number  of  genuine  phantasts,  whose  understanding  has 
been  subverted  by  some  impression  strongly  working  on  their  fervid 
imagination."  (16.  1:  196.) 

He  tells  us  that ' '  with  regard  to  their  own  practices,  they  readily 
admit  that  their  intercourse  is  merely  pretense  to  deceive  the 
simple."  (16.  1:197.)  Now  this  is  a  grave  charge  to  bring 
against  a  class  and  a  system,  as  central  in  Eskimo  life  as  that 
of  the  angakoks.  The  affinity  of  this  view  with  the  priestcraft- 
theory  of  the  origin  of  religions  might  suffice  to  show  its  un- 
tenability.  But  there  is  direct  evidence  from  Eskimo  life  itself. 
Holm  tells  us  of  angakoks'  freely  expressing  unbelief  in  their 
powers.  (30:127.)  But,  he  says  in  another  place  (30:135): 
' '  It  is  not  impossible  that  their  confession  of  their  own  impotence  as 
angakoks  is  only  an  expression  of  the  extraordinary  modesty,  with  which 
the  Eskimo  speak  of  themselves.  .  .  It  is  very  possible  that  the 

angakoks  in  reality  believe  in  their  own  relations  with  the  spirit-world." 

He  notes  the  significant  fact  that  while  denying  his  own  powers, 
an  angakok  always  expresses  faith  in  his  fellow-magicians. 
(30:  127,  sqq.)  Even  more  positive  testimony  of  the  same  effect 
is  given  by  Rasmussen.  After  relating  his  encounter  with  an 
angakok  who  was  exclaiming,  * '  all  foolery,  silly  humbug !  Noth 
ing  but  lies ! "  he  states : 

"A  magician  always  precedes  his  conjurations  with  a  few  depreciating 
words  about  himself  and  his  powers,  and  the  more  highly  esteemed  he 
is,  the  more  anxious  he  is  to  pretend  that  his  words  are  lies."  (50:  17  sq.) 

Our  conclusion,  I  think,  must  be  that  expressed  by 
Rasmussen  when  he  declares : 

' '  The  magicians  themselves  are  undoubtedly  self -deceived  in  the  con 
duct  of  their  incantations;  I  do  not  believe  that  they  consciously  lie. 
Otherwise,  why  should  they,  when  they  themselves  fall  ill,  seek  the  help 
of  the  spirits?"  (50:  156.) 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  41 

13.  GRATITUDE 

After  stating  that,  according  to  travelers '  accounts,  the  feeling 
of  gratitude  is  "lacking  in  many  uncivilized  races,"  Wester- 
marck  quotes  the  following  from  Lyon,  concerning  the  Eskimo : 

"Gratitude  is  not  only  rare,  but  absolutely  unknown  amongst  them, 
either  by  action,  word,  or  look,  beyond  the  first  outcry  of  satisfaction." 
(71.  2:  155;  cf.  16.  1:  174.) 

A  quite  different,  and  I  am  sure  more  just,  view  is  presented 
by  Murdoch  (this,  it  should  be  said,  is  also  quoted  by  Wester- 
marck,  71.  2:162): 

"Some  seemed  to  feel  truly  grateful  for  the  benefits  and  gifts  received, 
and  endeavored  by  their  general  behavior  as  well  as  in  more  substantial 
ways  to  make  some  adequate  return.  Others  appeared  to  think  only  of 
what  they  might  receive."  (42:  42.) 

This  would  do  very  well  as  a  description  of  a  high-class  civilized 
community. 

A  favorite  point  for  moralists  with  linguistic  proclivities  is 
to  deny  the  existence  of  a  word  for  this  or  that  virtue,  in  the 
language  of  a  primitive  people.  Among  these  "gratitude"  is 
one  often  found  missing.  Now  we  hold,  to  use  the  language  of 
"Wundt: 

"The  phenomena  of  language  do  not  admit  of  direct  translation  back 
again  into  ethical  processes;  the  ideas  themselves  are  different  from  their 
vehicles  of  expression,  and  here  as  everywhere  the  external  mark  is  later 
than  the  internal  act  for  which  it  stands."  (72:  44.) 

But  it  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  a  word,  given  by 
Amundsen  as  "koyenna,"  meaning  "thanks,"  which  a  mission 
ary  in  Alaska  claimed  was  of  Christian  origin  was  found  in 
Greenland  (spelled  by  Crantz  "kujonak"),  when  the  first 
modern  missionaries  arrived  there. 

Peary  writes  of  his  Eskimo  acquaintance  that  "their  feeling 
for  me  is  a  blending  of  gratitude  and  confidence"  (48:  48)  and 
"they  are  keenly  appreciative  of  kindness."  (48:51.)  Holm 
says  that  the  sick,  when  helped  by  the  Danish  expedition,  were 
very  grateful  and  the  patient's  housemates  "showered  us  with 
thanks  and  gifts."  He  adds  that  this  may  not  have  been  so 
much  from  gratitude,  as  from  the  feeling  the  angokoks  had 
instilled  in  them,  that  all  aid  must  be  paid  for.  The  explanation 
is  dubious.  He  himself  gives  other  instances  of  thankfulness 
where  no  such  interpretation  is  admissible.  (30:173.) 


42  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

Amundsen  expresses  "great  pleasure  to  see  how  happy  they 
were  with  their  gifts"  (1.  2:  78),  and  that  they  thought  of  other 
than  what  they  could  get  is  shown  by  their  actions  when  the 
Norwegian  expedition  was  ready  to  sail.  Their  Eskimo  friends 
presented  them  with  "no  less  than  seventy  fine  salmon,  weighing 
from  six  to  eleven  pounds  each,  one  in  fact  weighed  over  seven 
teen  pounds."  (1.  2:94.)  This  represented  toil  and  self- 
sacrifice,  and  was  certainly  not  for  the  sake  of  future  reward. 
(See  also  1.  2:107;  cf.  4:402.) 

The  importance  attached  to  gratitude,  as  well  as  benevolence, 
by  folk-lore  is  well  illustrated  in  the  tale  of  Kumagdlat. 
(53: 115.)  A  story  from  real  life  which  shows  how  deep-seated 
in  human  nature  is  the  response  of  gratitude,  is  that  of  the 
orphan  boy,  narrated  by  Easmussen.  (50:51.)  "A  gift 
always  opens  the  door  of  an  Eskimo  heart,"  remarks  this  author, 
' '  Thou  gavest ;  see,  I  give  too, ' '  is  the  key  thought. 

14.  PARENT  AND  CHILD 

The  desire  for  offspring  is  one  of  the  most  dominant  traits  of 
the  Eskimo  and  one  having  far-reaching  consequence.  As  is 
noted  in  another  section,  it  is  a  potent  cause  of  divorce,  polyg 
amy,  and  wife-exchanging.  "The  chief  end  of  marriage,"  says 
Nansen,  "is  undoubtedly  the  procreation  of  children." 
(43  : 150 ;  cf.  56 : 176.)  Childlessness  exposes  the  husband  to  the 
derision  of  his  fellows.  "Having  no  children,  he  has  no  sense," 
says  a  nith-song.  (63:295.)  But  even  more  unfortunate  is 
the  barren  wife.  Kasmussen  declares,  * '  There  is  only  one  woman 
whom  I  pity  among  the  Polar  Eskimo — the  woman  who  has 
no  children. "  ( 50 :  65. )  He  relates  a  pathetic  story,  which  is 
only  one  of  many  of  like  nature  from  life  and  folk-lore  (53 : 181, 
441),  describing  the  shame  and  suffering  of  the  childless  woman. 
The  following  by  Nansen  is  worth  noting  in  this  connection: 

"If  a  Greenlander's  wife  does  not  bear  children,  his  marriage  fails 
of  its  chief  purpose.  Their  treatment  of  barren  women  seems  to  us 
wanton  and  immoral;  but  when  we  remember  that  the  production  of  off 
spring  is  the  great  end  and  aim  of  their  conduct,  and  reflect  what  an 
all-important  matter  it  is  to  them,  we  may  perhaps  pass  a  somewhat 
milder  judgment."  (43:  171-172;  cf.  30:  96.) 

In  this  connection  it  might  be  noted  that  the  Eskimo  do  not 
appear  to  be  a  fertile  race.     The  number  of  children  born  to 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  43 

one  woman  is,  as  a  rule,  small,  and  complete  barrenness  is  not 
uncommon.  (43:150;  30:96;  42:414;  66:189;  16.  1:149; 
45:29.) 

The  chief  practical  consideration  is  to  have  children  for  sup 
port  in  old  age.  Therefore  married  couples  who  remain  childless 
frequently  adopt  children.  Sometimes  there  is  an  exchange  of 
children;  "somebody  wanting  a  boy  hands  over  a  superfluous 
girl  in  exchange."  (33:80.)  The  adopted  children  receive 
the  same  treatment  and  have  the  same  rights  as  children  born 
of  the  marriage.  (42 :  419 ;  5 :  580 ;  53  :  221 ;  see  also  1.  1:311; 
2:205;  16.  1:155;  30:88;  6:115.) 

This  intense  desire  for  offspring  is  coupled  with  a  strong 
affection  for  children.  On  this  point  all  authorities  are  in  com 
plete  agreement: 

''The  affection  of  parents  for  their  children  is  extreme, "  (42:  417); 
"Love  of  offspring  is  of  the  deepest  and  purest  character/'  (55:  191); 
"Parents  have  an  indescribable  love  for  their  children,"  (30:  92);  are 
representive  statements  from  different  parts  of  the  Eskimo  area.  Boas 
says,  "The  parents  are  very  fond  of  their  children  and  treat  them  kindly. 
They  are  never  beaten  and  rarely  scolded."  (5:  566.)  Holm  tells  of  a 
man  of  whom  the  only  good  thing  that  could  be  said  was  that  he  had  a 
notable  love  for  his  children.  (30:  96;  see  also  19:  81;  16.  1:  149,  174; 
43:  153;  13:  127,  179.) 

In  the  desire  for,  and,  though  to  a  lesser  degree,  in  the  care 
of,  children  preference  is  shown  for  boys.  Nansen's  statement, 
"When  a  man-child  is  born,  the  father  is  jubilant,  and  the 
mother  beams  with  pride,  while  if  it  be  a  girl,  they  both  weep, 
or  are,  at  any  rate,  very  ill  content"  (43: 135),  is  undoubtedly 
often  applicable,  though  it  must  admit  of  many  exceptions.  The 
preference  for  boys  is  shown  by  a  belief  that  a  boy  may  be 
changed  to  a  girl  after  birth,  as  punishment  for  not  observing 
the  birth-taboos.  (20:130.)  According  to  Holm,  the  pregnant 
wife  uses  amulets  to  assure  the  child's  being  a  boy.  (30:90. 
For  illustrations  in  folk-lore  see  53:  390,  456,  458.) 

The  reason  for  this  attitude  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  solution 
is  suggested  in  Holm's  statement,  "As  soon  as  the  wife  becomes 
pregnant,  her  husband  regards  her  as  the  mother  of  the  future 
hunter."  (30:90;  italics  mine.)  As  Nansen  puts  it: 

"The  boy  is  regarded  as  the  kayak-man  and  hunter  of  the  future,  the 
support  of  the  family  in  the  old  age  of  the  parents,  in  short  as  a  direct 
addition  to  the  working  capital."  (43:  135;  cf.  1.  2:  205;  16.  1:  155.) 


44  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

Yet  there  is  undoubtedly  much  truth  in  these  words  of  Murdoch : 

' '  "While  a  boy  is  desired,  since  he  will  be  the  support  of  his  father 
when  the  latter  grows  too  old  to  hunt,  a  girl  is  almost  as  highly  prized, 
for  not  only  will  she  help  her  mother  with  the  cares  of  housekeeping 
when  she  grows  up,  but  she  is  likely  to  obtain  a  good  husband  who 
may  be  induced  to  become  a  member  of  his  father-in-law's  family." 
(42:  419.) 

The  difference  in  the  valuation  put  upon  boys  and  girls  is 
shown  in  the  case  of  orphaned  children.  Of  these  Nansen  says : 

"If  a  boy's  parents  die,  his  position  is  never  a  whit  the  worse,  for 
all  the  neighbors  are  quite  willing  to  receive  him  into  their  houses,  and 
do  all  they  can  to  make  a  man  of  him.  With  the  girls  it  is  different; 
if  they  lose  their  parents  and  have  no  relations,  they  can  always,  indeed, 
have  plenty  of  food,  but  they  have  often  to  put  up  with  the  most  miser 
able  clothing."  (43:  135.) 

Such  neglect  of  orphan  girls  must,  however,  be  far  from  uni 
versal,  as  shown  in  numerous  stories  in  folk-lore.  This  same 
authority  also  adds: 

"When  they  come  to  marriageable  age,  they  stand  on  pretty  much  the 
same  level  as  girls  who  have  been  more  fortunately  situated;  for  no 
such  thing  as  a  dowry  is  known,  and  their  chances  simply  depend  upon 
beauty  and  solidity,  which  shall  secure  them  favor  in  the  eyes  of  men." 

The  position  of  the  orphan  boy  in  Eskimo  folk-lore  is  an 
exceedingly  interesting  theme. 

He  is  the  hero  par  excellence;  his  struggles  against  difficulties  and 
final  triumphs  form  a  favorite  subject.  In  the  tale,  "The  Little  Angakoks 
from  the  North  Land"  (63:  281  sqq.)  two  orphans  secured  seals  for 
the  people,  after  all  the  old  angakoks  had  failed.  A  frequent  theme  is 
that  of  an  orphan  boy,  who  has  been  neglected  or  tormented,  becoming 
a  strong  man  and  taking  fatal  revenge,  often  by  the  aid  of  supernatural 
powers.  In  one  story,  the  hero  killed  all  his  persecutors,  "only  the  poor 
people  who  had  been  kind  to  him  he  spared."  (53:  98.)  In  another 
he  "slaughtered  all  but  the  little  girl  who  had  befriended  him.  She 
became  his  wife."  ((66:  265.)  The  words  of  one  orphan-hero  is  the 
keynote  in  most  of  these  stories,  "They  had  no  mercy  on  me  when  I  was 
weak,  now  that  I  am  strong,  I  will  have  my  revenge. ' ' 

Rink  points  out  that  this  class  of  tales  has  "a  moral  tendency, 
bringing  before  us  the  idea  of  a  superior  power  protecting  the 
helpless,  and  avenging  mercilessness  and  cruelty/'  (53:92; 
cf.  3 :  272.)  They  are  closely  akin  to  the  belief  that 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  45 

"There  is  a  spirit  who  comes  and  frightens  people  to  death  when 
orphan  babies  scream.  There  is  also  a  risk  of  the  dead  mother  herself 
coming  back.  Once  upon  a  time  an  orphan  baby  was  allowed  to  scream, 
and  no  one  tried  to  quiet  it;  then  suddenly  the  dead  mother  appeared  in 
the  doorway  and  frightened  all  to  death."  (50:  137.) 

The  kindness  which  is  undoubtedly  often  shown  orphans  is 
strikingly  illustrated  in  several  folk-tales. 

One  tells  how  the  hunters,  on  their  return  from  the  chase,  ''always 
used  to  give  to  the  orphans  a  plentiful  repast,  and  had  special  stores 
of  provisions  set  apart  for  orphan  children  against  hard  times."  (53: 
334.) 

In  another,  an  orphan  boy  offered  some  brothers  to  barter  his 
little  dog  for  a  pair  of  boots.  One  of  the  brothers  said,  "Well, 
thou  art  a  hearty  little  fellow  for  thy  age,"  and  gave  him  two 
pairs  of  boots  without  taking  his  dog.  All  the  other  brothers 
likewise  loaded  him  with  presents  of  various  kinds.  ( 53 : 408 
sqq.) 

Notwithstanding  "the  most  unbounded  freedom,"  to  use 
Holm's  expression  (30:  92),  in  which  Eskimo  children  grow  up, 
our  evidence  is,  without  exception,  in  favor  of  their  excellent 
behavior.  "The  children  were  what  we  would  call  in  Europe 
well  brought  up,  though  they  got  no  bringing  up  at  all,"  is 
Nordenskiold's  way  of  putting  it.  (47.  2:236.)  "  One  must 
admire  how  well-bred  the  little  ones  are,"  says  Holm.  (Cf. 
19:82;  42:417.)  After  speaking  of  the  absence  of  restraint 
and  punishment,  Nansen  says: 

' l  With  such  an  upbringing,  one  might  expect  that  the  Greenland  children 
would  be  naughty  and  intractable.  This  is  not  at  all  the  case.  When 
they  are  old  enough  to  understand,  a  gentle  hint  from  father  or  mother 
is  enough  to  make  them  desist  from  anything  forbidden.  I  have  never 
seen  Eskimo  children  quarreling,  either  indoors  or  in  the  open  air ;  not 
even  talking  angrily  to  each  other,  much  less  fighting."  (43:  154;  cf. 
45:  191.) 

Children  early  begin  to  learn  the  activities  which  are  to  be 
their  life-work,  the  boys  as  hunters,  the  girls  as  housekeepers. 
But  "they  still  have  plenty  of  leisure  to  play  with  other  children 
until  they  are  old  enough  to  marry."  (42:417.)  Indeed,  they 
get  their  training  largely  through  play.  Among  the  boys' 
favorite  playthings  are  toy  harpoons  and  bird-darts.  (43: 156.) 
Then  one  day  *  *  it  dawns  upon  him  that  his  childish  play  can  be 
taken  in  earnest."  (50: 117.)  That  day  marks  an  epoch  in  the 


46  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

Eskimo's  life,  and  is  a  great  event  for  all  his  family.  Hall 
relates  that  the  mother  of  a  boy  came  to  him,  ' '  her  whole  frame 
shaking  with  joy,  while  she  told  the  news  she  had  just  heard, 
that  her  son  had  harpooned  and  killed  a  seal."  (26:171.) 
This  is  the  Eskimo  mode  of  "initiation  into  manhood"  (they 
have  no  so-called  "puberty  rites,"  at  least  not  for  boys.)  Crantz 
thus  describes  the  scene : 

"Of  the  first  seal  which  he  catches,  an  entertainment  is  given  to 
the  neighbors  and  inmates  of  the  family,  during  which  the  young  adven 
turer  relates  how  he  accomplished  his  exploit.  The  guests  express  their 
surprise  at  his  dexterity,  and  praise  the  flesh  as  peculiarly  excellent. 
And  the  females  afterwards  begin  to  choose  a  wife  for  him."  (1:  150.) 

The  dutiful  attitude  toward  parents  does  not  cease  with  child 
hood.  Valuable  on  this  point  is  the  testimony  of  Crantz,  as  he 
will  not  be  accused  of  exaggerating  "heathen"  virtues.  "In 
gratitude  in  grown-up  children  toward  their  old  decepit  parents 
is  scarcely  ever  exemplified  among  them."  (1: 150.)  Similarly 
Holm  writes,  "Grown-up  children  have  great  affection  for  their 
parents,  and  show  them  care  and  devotion"  (cf.  48:  46;  30:  93), 
even  in  the  case  of  an  unworthy  parent. 

I  am  not  sure  but  what  Nansen's  statement,  "reverence  for 
the  aged  is  not  a  prominent  feature  of  the  Eskimo  character" 
does  some  injustice  to  the  people  of  whom  this  writer  is  such  a 
staunch  friend.  We  have  already  pointed  out  the  place  of  the 
elders  in  the  social  order.  The  aged  are  the  objects  of  marks 
of  special  honor.  (See  e.g.,  42 :  359 ;  4 :  389.)  Turner  speaks  of 
men  who  attain  eighty  years  of  age  and  have  great-grand 
children,  and  "these  never  fail  to  show  respect  for  their 
ancestor."  (66:190.)  The  old  people  of  the  community  are 
in  a  way  the  link  which  connects  the  present  generation  with  the 
revered  ancestors,  and  with  the  latter  they  share  in  supreme 
degree  the  attributes  of  wisdom  and  trustworthiness.  "Old 
women  do  not  fling  their  words  about  without  meaning,  and  we 
believe  them.  There  are  no  lies  with  age."  (50;  cf.  5:605.) 
In  a  folk-tale  a  grandfather,  "a  wise  man/'  admonishes  his 
grandson  "never  to  be  uncivil  towards  old  people,  not  even  on 
being  reproved  by  them."  (53:414.) 

That  there  are  those  who  do  not  live  up  to  this  high  standard 
in  their  behavior  toward  the  aged,  even  their  own  parents, 
is  very  probable.  It  very  likely  happens  that  people  too  old 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  47 

to  take  care  of  themselves  are  neglected  or  treated  with  slight 
consideration.  (See  43  : 177 ;  20 : 101 ;  66 : 178 ;  30 : 181.) 

A  practice  found  among  the  Eskimo  which  at  first  sight 
outrages  our  moral  sensibility  is  the  abandoning  and  killing  of 
aged  parents.  They  are  sometimes  put  to  death  by  their 
own  children;  how  can  that  be  harmonized  with  that  affection 
for  parents  which  we  have  described?  The  same  treatment 
may  be  dealt  out  to  the  sick  and  insane.  As  all  these  cases  have 
the  same  causes,  we  will  treat  of  them  together. 

The  fundamental  explanation  for  these  acts  must  be  sought, 
not  in  any  "corruption  of  the  heart"  of  the  Eskimo  nor  their 
heathenism,  but  in  the  grim  necessities  of  the  struggle  for 
existence.  It  is  the  demand  for  the  sacrifice  of  the  individual 
life  that  the  group  may  survive.  The  scarcity  of  the  food  supply 
or  the  hardship  of  the  march  may  require  that  those  who  only 
consume  or  who  retard  the  progress  be  abandoned  or  dispatched. 
This  is  well  illustrated  in  an  account  by  Boas : 

"When  a  traveling  party  runs  short  of  provisions,  they  sometimes 
leave  a  woman  or  an  old  person,  who  may  hinder  their  progress  in  a 
small  snow  hut,  in  which  such  a  person  is  walled  up.  In  case  the  party 
succeed  in  reaching  their  destination  and  replenishing  their  stock  of 
provisions,  they  return  for  the  deserted  one."  (6:  117.) 

Sometimes  the  aged  and  sick  themselves  ask  to  be  killed.  A 
young  man  told  Hall,  "with  tears  in  his  eyes"  that  "it  had 
been  his  duty"  to  put  his  parents  to  death  "as  it  was  at  their 
request."  (26:277.)  An  incident,  which  Nansen  uses  as  an 
illustration  of  the  fact  that  "the  conceptions  of  good  and  evil 
in  this  world  are  exceedingly  divergent"  (43 : 170)  is  as  follows: 
A  missionary  spoke  to  a  girl  of  the  love  of  God  and  neighbor, 
when  she  said  to  him : 

"I  have  given  proof  of  love  for  my  neighbor.  Once  an  old  woman, 
who  was  ill,  but  could  not  die,  offered  to  pay  me  if  I  would  lead  her 
to  the  top  of  the  steep  cliff  from  which  our  people  have  always  thrown 
themselves  when  they  are  tired  of  living;  but  I,  having  always  loved  my 
neighbors,  led  her  thither  without  payment,  and  cast  her  over  the  cliff." 
(See  also  43:  163;  42:  331;  17:  385;  6:  499.) 

Infanticide  is  practised  under  similar  conditions  from  like 
motives.  They  often  kill  children  who  are  deformed  or  those 
so  feeble  that  they  are  not  likely  to  live,  and  those  whose  mothers 
die  in  childbirth  and  who  have  no  one  to  nurse  them.  (43  :151 ; 


48  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

20: 107;  30:  91.)  A  motherless  infant,  says  Crantz,  is  "buried 
alive  by  the  desperate  father,  when  he  can  no  longer  endure  the 
sight  of  its  misery,"  And  he  adds,  "The  heartrending  anguish 
of  this  task  must  be  left  to  the  imagination  to  conceive." 
(1.  61 :  218.)  Paul  Egede  tells  of  a  deeply  grieved  widower  who 
had  thrown  his  new-born  child  from  a  high  cliff,  with  closed 
eyes,  so  as  not  to  see  its  end.  He  explained  that  its  mother 
was  dead,  there  was  no  one  to  nurse  it.  It  had  to  die  slowly, 
but  now  it  died  quickly,  he  sighed.  (20: 107.  See  also  6: 117; 
5:  580;  48:  66;  45:  289;  53:  35.) 

But  fortunately  extremities  which  necessitate  such  actions  are 
comparatively  rare.  Murdoch  writes,  "We  never  heard  of  a 
single  case  of  infanticide."  (42:416.)  According  to  AVald- 
mann,  not  even  feeble  or  premature  children  were  exposed,  by 
the  Labrador  natives  among  whom  he  lived.  (69:  431.)  Patient 
efforts  are  used  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  child  when  possible. 
Folk-lore  tells  of  a  woman  who  miscarried  and  the  child  "was 
swaddled  in  the  skin  of  the  eider-duck,  and  had  to  be  fostered 
with  the  utmost  care  to  keep  it  alive."  It  became  "one  of  the 
most  powerful  of  men."  (53:453.)  Amundsen  relates  a  case, 
where  parents  had  drawn  their  son,  lame  from  childhood,  along 
on  a  seal-skin,  for  many  years.  The  explorer's  gift  of  a  sledge 
was  a  welcome  aid.  (1.  2:79.) 

Examples  could  be  multiplied  showing  the  devotion  of  parents 
to  their  children  in  the  face  of  death.  Dalager  says,  "What 
chiefly  cuts  their  hearts  is  to  see  their  children  starving.  They 
give  food  to  their  children  even  if  they  themselves  are  ready  to 
die  of  hunger."  (Quoted  43:103.)  Parental  love  and  grief 
of  an  Eskimo  affected  Paul  Egede  more  perhaps  than  the  strict 
logic  of  his  theology  would  permit,  when  a  man  came  to  him 
and  asked  if  his  dead  son  was  in  heaven.  Egede  notes  in  his 
journal  (remember  father  and  son  were  both  heathen)  :  "I 
could  not  but  answer  him  that  the  good  God,  who  is  the  Father 
of  all,  prepares  a  fitting  place  for  His  children."  This  com 
forted  the  stricken  man,  but  he  remarked,  "Still  it  is  hard  to 
lose  mine,  and  not  see  them  again  in  this  world."  (20:96.) 
The  value  attached  to  the  preservation  of  a  child  is  illustrated 
by  two  folk-tales. 

In  one,  a  man  having  slain  a  murderer,  was  asked  by  the  latter 's  wife, 
"Are  you  going  to  kill  me  too?"  To  which  the  avenger  replied,  "No! 
Pualuna  [the  youngest  son]  is  not  big  enough  to  do  without  you."  (50: 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  49 

132.)  In  another  a  second  wife  killed  the  first,  of  whom  the  husband 
had  not  informed  her.  She  took  the  slain  woman's  child.  The  man 
"was  not  angry  with  her  on  account  of  the  murder  because  she  had  let 
the  boy  live."  (53:  276.) 

Finally  we  may  refer  to  an  account  by  Khitschak. 

The  expedition  of  which  he  was  a  member  (Schwatka's)  had  secured  an 
Eskimo  and  his  wife  to  accompany  them.  The  couple  had  a  girl  five  or 
six  years'  old,  who,  according  to  common  usage,  was  "betrothed"  to  an 
adult.  The  latter  demanded  the  child  as  a  hostage,  lest  they  would  not 
return.  "It  was  a  painful  situation  for  Nalijau  and  his  wife.  On  the 
one  hand  was  a  better,  care-free,  easier  life  without  their  beloved  child — 
on  the  other,  the  most  wretched  conditions  with  their  child."  But  after 
a  long  struggle,  the  father  came  and  announced  that  they  had  decided 
to  remain.  "The  love  of  the  parents  for  their  child  had  won  in  the 
struggle  with  the  prospect  of  a  better  life."  And  the  author  adds  that 
this  decision  met  with  the  general  approval  of  the  other  Eskimo.  (34:  169.) 

I  think  facts  like  these  throw  more  light,  than  would  a  long 
discussion,  on  the  psychology  and  ethics  of  infanticide  among 
the  Eskimo.  ( See  also  9 : 192 ;  66 : 192 ;  42 : 415. ) 

Fceticide  would  be  very  difficult  for  an  observer  to  discover. 
From  the  desire  of  the  Eskimo  for  children  we  would  suppose  it 
to  be  very  rare.  Of  a  case  described  by  Holm,  that  author  says 
that  it  was  * '  a  great  offense ' '  to  the  other  Eskimo. 

15.  CANNIBALISM 

Deniker  enumerates  as  causes  of  anthropophagy,  or  cannibal 
ism,  necessity,  gluttony,  and  superstition.  (17a:147.)  Of  the 
second  of  these,  no  instance  has  been  found  among  the  Eskimo. 
The  third  is  given  as  a  reason  in  only  two  reported  cases. 
In  Greenland,  according  to  Rink,  "a  slain  man  is  said  to  have 
the  power  to  avenge  himself  by  'rushing  into  him/  which  can 
only  be  prevented  by  eating  a  piece  of  his  liver."  (53:45.) 
At  Bering  Strait,  Nelson  informs  us, 

"when  young  men  fought  in  their  first  battle  each  was  given  to  drink 
some  of  the  blood,  and  made  to  eat  a  small  piece  of  the  first  enemy 
killed  by  them,  in  order  to  render  them  brave."  (45:  328.) 

But  there  are  many  cases  recorded  of  the  eating  of  human 
flesh  under  the  pressure  of  imminent  starvation — necessity — 
that  force  which  we  saw  to  be  cause  of  the  killing  of  children, 
sick  and  aged.  (6:144,  258,  278,  489,  494;  1.  1:278,  281; 
30: 162.)  Generally  it  is  only  bodies  already  dead  from  disease 


50  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

or  famine  which  are  thus  appropriated.  Sometimes,  however, 
people  are  killed,  to  preserve  the  existence  of  the  group,  by 
replenishing  the  food  supply.  (6:574;  50:33.)  Such  actions, 
even  the  consuming  of  the  dead,  are  resorted  to  only  after  every 
other  means  has  proved  futile;  Turner  says  " after  eating  their 
dogs  and  the  clothing  and  other  articles  made  of  skins."  (55: 
187.) 

Boas  says  *  *  all  these  occurrences  are  spoken  of  with  the  utmost 
horror. "  (5 :  574.)  The  effect  upon  the  mind  of  such  an  experi 
ence  is  well  illustrated  in  an  incident  given  by  Amundsen 
(1.  1:278;  281): 

A  man  had  died  while  on  a  fishing  expedition.  His  wife  and  sons, 
who  were  with  him,  being  unable  to  procure  any  other  food,  were  forced, 
in  order  to  save  their  lives,  to  partake  of  the  dead  man's  body.  "This 
dreadful  tragedy  seemed  to  cast  a  cloak  of  melancholy  over  old  Navija. 
She  was  naturally  very  bright  and  gay,  but  at  times  had  fits  of  the 
deepest  melancholy,  during  which  she  tenaciously  clung  to  her  boy." 

In  East  Greenland,  those  who  have  been  forced  to  eat  human 
flesh  refrain  from  ever  speaking  of  it.  (30: 165.)  On  the  west 
coast  of  Hudson  Bay,  cannibalism  should  not  be  mentioned  in 
the  hearing  of  women.  (6:503.)  The  Eskimo  attitude  is  well 
manifested  in  the  custom  that 

"a.  person  who  during  a  famine  has  eaten  human  flesh,  should  never 
afterwards  eat  bear  meat,  because  it  is  believed  that  bear  meat  resembles 
that  of  man,  and  that  to  eat  it  will  keep  alive  the  desire  for  human 
flesh."  (6:  149,  489.) 

This  acquisition  of  a  "taste"  is  referred  to  in  an  East  Green 
land  tale.  (31:323.) 

Cannibalism  is  frequently  dealt  with  in  folk-lore,  but  always 
to  emphasize  the  abhorrence  of  the  narrators  for  the  act.  Any 
interpretation  of  these  tales  as  traditions  of  an  earlier  general 
cannibalism  is  out  of  the  question. 


16.  PROPERTY  AND  TRADE 
Nansen  says  that  the  Eskimo, 

"like  all  nations  of  hunters,  have  a  very  restricted  sense  of  property; 
but  it  is  mistake  to  suppose  it  entirely  non-existing.  As  regards  the  great 
majority  of  things,  a  certain  communism  prevails;  but  this  is  always 
limited  to  wider  or  narrower  circles  according  to  the  nature  of  the  thing 
in  question." 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  51 

In  these  words  he  well  sums  up  the  main  features  of  the 
economic  system  of  the  Eskimo.  (43:108;  cf.  53:9;  52:23.) 
We  have  already  discussed  the  various  subdivisions  of  Eskimo 
society.  These  are  well  worth  bearing  in  mind  in  considering 
the  matter  of  property,  as  we  find  a  perfect  correlation  between 
the  ownership  of  property  and  the  individuals  or  groups  who 
make  use  of  the  things  in  question.  Among  the  Eskimo  there 
is  a  complete  application  of  the  principle,  which  is  the  central 
idea  of  modern  socialism,  what  is  individually  used  should  be 
individually  owned,  what  is  collectively  used  should  be  collec 
tively  owned. 

Strictly  personal  property  is  practically  limited  to  the  things 
which  the  individual,  man  or  woman,  employs  in  his  or  her 
particular  work.  According  to  Nansen,  it  is 

"most  fully  recognized  in  the  kayak,  the  kayak-dress,  and  the  hunting 
weapons,  which  belong  to  the  hunter  alone,  and  which  no  one  must  touch. 
With  them  he  supports  himself  and  his  family,  and  he  must  therefore 
always  be  sure  of  finding  them  where  he  last  laid  them;  it  is  seldom  that 
they  are  even  lent  to  others." 

The  woman  likewise  owns  the  necessary  household  articles, 
besides  her  clothing  and  ornaments.  (43: 108;  cf.  42:  328.) 

The  possession  by  an  individual  of  more  than  a  certain  amount 
of  this  kind  of  property  is  jealously  restricted  by  public  opinion. 
These  specifically  personal  articles  were,  to  quote  Rink,  "even 
regarded  as  having  a  kind  of  supernatural  relation  to  the  owner, 
reminding  us  of  that  between  the  body  and  the  soul,"  But  if 
a  man  owned  more  suits  than  usual,  "public  opinion  would 
compel  him  to  allow  others  to  make  use  of  them. "  ( 53 :  30. ) 
A  few  hunters  have  two  kayaks;  but  if  one  happens  to  have 
three,  "he  would  be  obliged  to  lend  one  of  them  to  some  relative 
or  housemate,  and  sooner  or  later  he  would  lose  it."  The 
Eskimo  attitude  is  strikingly  shown  in  the  rule  that  a  borrowed 
article,  if  lost  or  damaged,  need  not  be  compensated  to  the 
owner,  since  the  very  fact  that  he  could  afford  to  lend  it,  proved 
he  did  not  need;  hence  it  is  "not  held  with  the  same  right  of 
possession  as  his  more  necessary  belongings,  but  ranked  among 
those  goods  which  were  possessed  in  common  with  others." 
( 53  :  29,  30 ;  cf .  45 :  294. )  Another  interesting  view  is  given  us 
by  Boas; 

"A  person  who  has  unwittingly  damaged  the  property  of  another 
regrets  that  he  has  been  the  cause  of  loss,  particularly  if  the  owner 


52  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

should  comfort  him  by  minimizing  the  importance  of  the  accident.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  the  owner  should  express  his  annoyance,  the  offender 
will  take  comfort,  because  it  is  sufficient  for  one  person  to  feel  annoyed." 
(6:  116.) 

Among  the  Alaskan  Eskimo,  the  idea  of  individual  ownership 
appears  to  be  more  strongly  developed  than  elsewhere.  Murdoch 
believes  that 

"there  is  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  property  which  an  individual,  at 
least  the  head  of  a  family,  may  accumulate.  This  has  given  rise  to  a 
regular  wealthy  or  aristocratic  class,  who,  however,  are  not  yet  sufficiently 
differentiated  from  the  poorer  people,  to  refuse  to  associate  with  them 
on  any  terms  but  those  of  social  equality. >; 

Leadership  in  trading  with  whites  is  one  cause  of  the  rise  of  this 
class.  (42:429.)  But  even  in  this  region  the  ancient  order 
cannot  be  abrogated  with  facility  or  impunity.  Nelson  writes 
of  this  as  follows: 

"The  Eskimo  are  very  jealous  of  anyone  who  accumulates  much  prop 
erty  and  in  order  to  retain  the  public  good  will,  are  forced  to  be  open- 
handed  with  the  community.  .  .  .  Whenever  a  successful  trader  ac 
cumulates  property  and  food,  and  is  known  to  work  solely  for  his  own 
welfare,  and  is  careless  of  his  fellow  villagers,  he  becomes  the  object  of 
envy  and  hatred  which  ends  in  one  of  two  ways.  The  villagers  may 
compel  him  to  make  a  feast  and  distribute  his  goods,  or  they  may  kill 
him  and  divide  his  property  among  themselves."  (45:  305.) 

The  next  class  of  property  is  that  which  belongs  to  the  whole 
family.  Rink  enumerates  under  this  head  the  family-boat  and 
tent,  provisions  collected  during  the  summer,  and  stores  of  skin 
and  other  articles  for  family  use  or  for  barter. 

The  third  class  is  the  property  belonging  to  the  house-mates, 
including  the  large  house  and  the  supply  of  meat  for  certain  com 
mon  meals.  A  fourth  class  comprises  the  things  shared  by  all 
the  place-fellows,  such  as  the  flesh  and  blubber  derived  from 
the  seals  caught  during  the  stay  in  winter-quarters.  And  a 
fifth  and  last  class,  consisting  of  the  food-supplies  which,  either 
on  account  of  the  size  of  the  animal,  or  owing  to  scarcity  and 
famine,  were  shared  by  the  inhabitants  of  neighboring  settle 
ments,  (53:30.) 

The  Eskimo  do  not,  as  a  rule  have  any  definite  idea  of  prop 
erty  in  land,  yet  priority  of  occupation  carries  with  it  certain 
privileges.  Thus  it  is  a  recognized  rule  that  "no  one  shall 
pitch  a  tent  or  build  a  house  where  people  are  already  settled 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  53 

without  obtaining  their  consent."  (43 : 109 ;  cf.  16.  1 : 166 ;  30.) 
But, 

''beyond  the  confines  of  such  places  as  are  already  inhabited,  every  one 
was  at  liberty  to  put  up  his  house  and  go  hunting  and  fishing  whenever 
he  chose."  (53:  27.) 

Nansen  says  that  perhaps  the  rudiments  of  the  idea  of  private 
property  in  land  is  found  in  what  he  believes  to  be  a  fact,  that 

tc  where  dams  have  been  built  in  a  salmon  river  to  gather  the  fish  together, 
it  is  not  regarded  as  the  right  thing  if  strangers  come  and  interfere  with 
the  dams  or  fish  with  nets  in  the  dammed-up  waters."  (43:  110.) 

He  says  that  this  is  also  mentioned  by  Dalager.  The  contrary 
is  given  by  Rink, 

"not  even  where  others  had  first  established  a  fishing  place,  by  making 
weirs  across  a  river,  would  any  objections  be  made  to  other  parties  using 
these  or  even  injuring  them."  (53:  27;  for  a  similar  rule  about  fox-traps 
see  16.  1:  167;  53:  29.) 

This  is  in  substantial  agreement  with  Crantz,  who  concludes; 

' ( Should  a  stranger  disturb  the  prior  occupant,  he  [the  latter]  will 
rather  go  away  and  starve  than  engage  in  a  quarrel."  (16.  1:  167.) 

Nelson 's  observations  indicate  that  in  Alaska  the  idea  of  private 
property  in  natural  resources  is  pretty  well  developed,  one  of 
the  many  respects  in  which  the  culture  of  that  region  differs 
from  that  of  the  other  parts  of  the  Eskimo  area.  The  right  to 
use  certain  places  for  setting  seal  and  salmon  nets 

"is  regarded  as  personal  property,  and  it  is  handed  down  from  father 
to  son.  If  anyone  else  puts  a  net  in  one  of  these  places  the  original 
owner  is  permitted  to  take  it  out  and  put  down  his  own.  These  nets  are 
sometimes  rented  or  given  out  on  shares,  when  the  man  who  allows  an 
other  to  use  his  place  is  entitled  to  half  the  catch."  (45:  307.) 

There  do  not  seem  to  be  any  definite  boundaries  between  the 
hunting  grounds  of  various  tribes.  According  to  Amundsen, 
it  very  frequently  happens  that  two  tribes  meet  while  out 
hunting.  "Such  an  encounter  far  from  leading  to  strife  and 
bloodshed,  is  the  signal  for  a  round  of  festivities."  (1.  2:45.) 

The  Eskimo  have  a  great  many  rules  governing  the  disposition 
of  the  booty  of  the  chase.  (6:116,  210;  5:582;  42:275,  427; 
16.  1:167;  53:27,  29,  136;  30:76;  69:433;  33:223;  43:113.) 
Among  these  are  the  following,  the  particular  one  applying  in 
a  given  case  depending  upon  particular  circumstances,  including 
the  kind  of  animal  involved ;  they  also  differ  in  detail  in  various 


54  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

localities.  The  right  to  the  animal  belongs  either  to  the  one  who 
first  sees  it,  or  the  one  who  first  wounds  it  (no  matter  who  fires 
the  fatal  shot),  or,  if  several  shoot  at  once,  the  one  who  comes 
nearest  a  vital  spot.  Eeferring  to  this  last  rule,  Crantz  remarks 
that  since  the  introduction  of  muskets,  many  disputes  arise 
which  are  not  easily  settled  since  no  one  knows  his  own  bullet. 
(16.  1:67.)  A  case  of  what  a  jurist  would  call  "conflict  of 
laws"  is  given  in  a  Cumberland  Sound  tale. 

All  the  people  shot  arrows  at  a  caribou  and  killed  it.  One  shouted, 
"I  hit  it  first;"  another,  "It  was  my  arrow  that  killed  it."  Finally 
one  of  the  party  grew  so  angry  that  he  took  the  caribou  by  the  hind 
legs  and  dashed  it  to  pieces  on  the  rocks.  ' '  Then  nobody  dared  to  claim 
it."  (6:  284.) 

How  detailed  the  principles  of  division  sometimes  are  is  shown 
by  a  rule  from  the  west  coast  of  Hudson  Bay: 

"The  hunter  who  first  strikes  a  walrus  receives  the  tusks  and  one  of 
the  forequarters.  The  person  who  comes  to  his  assistance  receives  the 
other  forequarter;  the  next  man,  the  neck  and  head;  the  following  the 
belly,  and  each  of  the  next  two,  one  of  the  hindquarters."  (6:  116.) 

Also,  in  some  cases,  all  who  participate  in  the  expedition  share 
in  the  booty;  again  all  who  see  the  capture  of  the  animal  have 
this  right.  Under  certain  conditions,  all  rights  of  acquisition 
are  suspended  and  the  captured  animal  regarded  as  the  common 
property  of  the  whole  community.  This  is  true  of  all  booty  in 
time  of  scarcity.  And  at  all  times,  according  to  Rink,  *  *  animals 
rare  on  account  of  their  size  or  other  unusual  circumstances, 
were,  more  than  ordinary  species,  considered  common  property. ' r 
(53:28.)  This  holds  universally  of  the  whale.  (For  the 
description  of  a  "whale-party,"  see  16.  1:167.) 

If  an  animal  gets  away  with  the  harpoon  sticking  in  it,  the 
finder  is  entitled  to  the  animal,  but  the  harpoon  is  returned 
to  the  proper  owner,  if  he  announces  himself.  (53:28; 
16.  1: 167.)  On  Hudson  Bay  the  finder  is  allowed  to  keep  the 
harpoon  also.  (5:582.) 

Boas  has  discussed  the  property  marks  of  the  Alaskan  Eskimo. 
These  are  found 

"almost  exclusively  on  weapons  used  in  hunting,  which  after  being  dis 
patched,  remain  in  the  bodies  of  large  game.  Their  purpose  is  to  secure 
property-right  in  the  animal  in  which  the  weapon  is  found."  (10:  601.) 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  55 

Such  marks  are  not  found  among  any  other  branch  of  the 
Eskimo.  He  concludes  that 

"this  fact,  taken  in  connection  with  the  form  and  occurrence  of  such 
marks  among  the  northeastern  tribes  of  Asia,  suggests  that  this  custom 
like  so  many  peculiarities  of  Alaskan  Eskimo  life,  may  be  due  to  contact 
with  Asiatic  tribes."  (10:  613.) 

Anyone  picking  up  driftwood  is  entitled  to  its  possession.  To 
make  sure  his  right,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  carry  it  above  the 
high  water  line,  and  mark  it  in  some  way,  such  as  putting  a  stone 
on  it  or  cutting  a  notch  in  it.  (53:28;  42:428;  16.  1:167; 
43:110.) 

"For  this  form  of  property  the  Eskimo  has  the  greatest  respect,"  says 
Nansen,  "and  one  who  has  left  a  piece  of  driftwood  on  the  shore  may 
be  sure  of  finding  it  again  even  several  years  after,  unless  Europeans 
have  come  along  in  the  meantime.  Anyone  taking  it  would  be  regarded 
as  a  scoundrel."  Nansen  emphasizes  this  custom  "as  a  proof  of  the 
Eskimo's  scrupulous  respect  for  the  moral  law  which  he  recognizes."  (43: 
162.) 

Somlo  has  shown  that  among  peoples  of  the  most  primitive 
types  of  culture  (e.g.,  Tasmanians,  Botocudos,  Negritos,  Seri 
Indians,  etc.),  trade  ("Giiterverkehr")  is  carried  on  both  intra- 
and  inter-tribally.  (57:155.)  So,  too,  "  notwithstanding  their 
very  limited  feeling  as  to  the  accumulation  of  property,  the 
Eskimo  have  carried  on  a  kind  of  trade  among  themselves. " 
(53: 11.)  It  has  been  discovered  that  articles  have  travelled  all 
the  way  from  Asia  to  Davis  Strait  or  Hudson  Bay.  But  as  a 
practical  necessity,  each  community  has  to  depend  upon  itself 
for  the  staples  of  life.  The  articles  of  commerce  are  compara 
tively  few.  They  are  especially  desirous  of  procuring  things 
made  of  metal,  for  use  in  their  weapons  and  tools.  Well  might 
the  Greenlanders  laugh  when  they  were  offered  gold  and  silver 
coins,  but  they  were  eager  for  objects  of  steel.  (40a:  192.)  The 
Eskimo  were  the  first  American  aborigines  to  become  acquainted 
with  smelted  iron,  from  the  Norse  discoverers  and  settlers. 
(40a:201.) 

" Their  trading  negotiations,"  says  Crantz,  "are  simply  and 
concisely  conducted.  They  make  mutual  exchanges  with  each 
other  for  what  they  need."  (16.  1:160.)  Amundsen  credits 
them  with  ' '  sharp  business  instinct. ' '  From  his  liberal  presents 
to  them  in  return  for  their  gifts,  they  "soon  discovered  that  it 
was  more  remunerative  to  bring  their  goods  as  gifts."  He  was 


56  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

therefore  "obliged  to  decline  all  gifts,  and  introduce  regular 
trading  instead."  (1.  1:179.)  One  Eskimo,  who  would  get 
rich  quick  in  more  southerly  parts  of  the  continent,  "noticed 
that  I  liked  to  have  neatly  sewn  clothes ;  so  he  bought  garments 
from  some  of  his  friends  and  sold  them  to  me  at  a  large  profit. ' ' 
(1.  2:55.) 

If  an  Eskimo  repents  of  a  bargain,  he  has  a  right  to  return 
the  purchased  article  and  take  back  his  equivalent,  even  after 
considerable  time.  (53 :  29 ;  16.  1 : 167 ;  43 :  111.)  Another  in 
teresting  trait  is  brought  out  by  Holm's  experience.  He  says, 
"When  we  had  traded  with  one,  the  others  regarded  it  as  their 
right,  that  we  trade  with  them  and  give  them  the  same  as  the 
first. ' '  For  instance,  a  man  asked  and  received  a  piece  of  arrow- 
iron  for  a  piece  of  driftwood.  Then  another  came  with  an  old 
board  and  asked  for  a  like  piece  of  iron.  "He  explained  that 
they  always  gave  people  what  they  asked  for."  (30: 168.)  A 
curious  trading  custom  is  reported  from  Alaska.  It  is  called 
"patukhtuk,"  and  is  described  as  follows: 

"When  a  person  wants  to  start  one  of  these  he  takes  some  article  into 
the  kashim  [men's  house]  and  gives  it  to  the  man  with  whom  he  wishes 
to  trade,  saying  at  the  same  time,  'It  is  a  patukhtuk. '  The  other  is 
bound  to  receive  it,  and  give  in  return  some  article  of  about  equal  value; 
tne  first  man  then  brings  in  something  else,  and  so  they  alternate  until, 
sometimes,  two  men  will  exchange  nearly  everything  they  originally  pos 
sessed;  the  man  who  received  the  first  present  being  bound  to  continue 
until  the  originator  wishes  to  stop."  (45:  309.) 


PART  II 
SOME  ETHICAL  PHASES  OF  ESKIMO  CULTURE 

BY   ALBERT  NICOLAY  GILBERTSON,  A.M., 
Fellow  in  Anthropology,  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Mass. 

17.    INHERITANCE 

When  we  consider  the  small  amount  of  property  which  an 
individual  among  the  Eskimo  can  acquire,  we  realize  that  the 
question  of  inheritance  is  not  a  very  important  one  in  their 
economy.  Another  circumstance,  which  decreases  the  amount 
of  transmissible  property,  is  the  custom  of  destroying  or  plac 
ing  by  the  grave  of  a  large  part  of  the  property  of  the  de 
ceased.  Boas  enumerates  as  objects  which  may  be  acquired 
by  inheritance,  the  gun,  harpoon,  sledge,  dogs,  kayak,  boat,  and 
tent-poles  of  the  man,  and  the  lamps  and  pots  of  the  woman. 
(5:580.) 

The  immediate  heir  is  the  oldest  son  living  with  the  parents. 
Nothing  falls  directly  to  the  widow,  except  the  articles  she 
brought  in  marriage.  Adopted  children  are  on  the  same  foot 
ing  as  blood-descendants.  Thus  an  elder  foster-son  has  prior 
right  over  a  younger  son  born  of  the  marriage.  If  there  are 
no  children  in  the  family,  a  relative,  such  as  a  brother,  becomes 
the  heir.  (53:25;  16,1:176.) 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that,  with  the  right  of  inheri 
tance,  goes  the  obligation  of  providing  for  the  dependent  sur 
vivors.  So  that,  as  Rink  says,  it  "represents  a  question  of 
obligations  and  burdens  rather  than  of  personal  gain."  (53  :25.) 

For  rules  of  inheritance  apparently  peculiar  to  Alaska,  see 
Nelson's  monograph.  (45.) 

18.     THEFT 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  private  property  being  so  lim 
ited,  crimes  "in  violation  of  the  rights  of  property  can  only 
have  been  trifling,"  as  Rink  points  out.  (53:34.)  Conflicting 
reports  are  given  as  to  Eskimo  tendency  to  theft,  especially 
in  dealing  with  strangers. 

It  is  the  almost  unanimous  testimony  that  stealing  is  very 


58  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

rare  among  members  of  the  same  community,  and  when  it  does 
occur,  is  condemned.  Nansen  says: 

"The  Eskimo  regards  it  as  in  the  highest  degree  dishonorable  to  steal 
from  his  housemates  or  from  his  fellow-villagers,  and  it  is  seldom  that 
anything  of  the  sort  occurs/'  (43:  158.) 

Hans  Egede  testifies  that  "they  rarely  steal  from  one  another. 
\Vherefore  they  let  their  goods  lie  exposed  to  everyone,  with 
out  fear  of  anyone  stealing  or  taking  away  the  least  bit  of 
them.  Indeed,  this  vice  is  so  repulsive  to  them  that  if  a  girl 
steals,  she  thereby  loses  the  chance  of  a  good  marriage." 
(19:69.)  So  too  Crantz  states,  "They  have  no  disposition  to 
overreach  each  other,  still  less  to  steal,  which  is  considered  ex 
cessively  disgraceful."  (16.1:160.)  Holm  says  that  among 
the  East  Greenlanders,  "theft  is  not  uncommon,"  but  adds 
that  the  causes  are  principally  revenge  or  necessity.  (30:87.) 
The  report,  given  by  other  Eskimo  to  Hall,  that  the  Nechilli 
"will  steal  whenever  they  can  get  a  chance,  even  one  Innuit 
from  another"  (26:421)  was  a  rumor  of  the  same  status  as 
that  told  Stefansson  of  a  distant  tribe's  eating  all  strangers. 
(59.)  Exceptional,  indeed,  if  correctly  reported,  is  the  situa 
tion  at  Point  Barrow,  where  "men,  who  were  said  to  be  thieves, 
did  not  appear  to  lose  any  social  consideration."  (42:41.) 
Among  the  nearby  tribes  studied  by  Nelson, 

"stealing  from  people  of  the  same  village  is  regarded  as  wrong.  The 
thief  is  shamed  by  being  talked  of  in  the  kashim.  An  incorrigible  thief 
is  held  and  beaten  on  the  back." 

An  effective  insurance  method  is  reported  by  Murdoch : 

' '  Before  starting  for  the  deer  the  hunters  generally  take  the  movable 
property  which  they  do  not  mean  to  carry  with  them  out  of  the  house  and 
bury  it  in  the  snow  for  safe  keeping,  apparently  thinking  that  while  a 
dishonest  person  might  help  himself  to  small  articles  left  around  the  house, 
he  could  hardly  go  to  work  and  dig  up  a  cache  without  attracting  the 
attention  of  the  neighbors."  (42:  261.) 

There  appears  to  be  truth  in  Nansen 's  statement  that  "the 
Eskimo's  conception  of  his  duties  towards  strangers,  especially 
toward  white  people,  is  not  quite  so  strict."  (43:159.)  "To 
steal  from  a  stranger  or  from  people  of  another  tribe  is  not  con 
sidered  wrong  so  long  as  it  does  not  bring  trouble  to  the  com 
munity,"  according  to  Nelson.  (45.293;  cf.  16.1:160;  19:69.) 
Cases  of  thieving  are  frequently  reported  in  the  literature. 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  59 

(30.171,  176;  56:187;  4:389,  398;  1.1:174,  181;  2:60;  42:41; 
19:136.) 

The  actions  of  the  thieves  when  detected  throw  light  on  their 
feelings  about  the  matter.  Murdoch  says  "the  thieves  when 
detected  seemed  to  have  no  feeling  of  shame."  (42:41.)  Still 
a  certain  shame,  even  if  not  sense  of  guilt,  is  not  wanting. 
According  to  Holm,  "their  blushes  always  betrayed  them," 
when  interrogated  about  thefts.  (30:177.)  Amundsen  says  of 
some  detected  thieves  that  they  "slunk  away  sheepishly." 
(1.1:282.)  Others  appear  to  regard  the  matter  as  a  good  joke. 
Beechey  relates  that  when  thefts  were  detected,  the  goods  were 
immediately  returned,  "with  a  hearty  laugh  in  addition." 
(4:395.)  Similar  behavior  is  common  in  natives  who  indulge 
in  fraud  in  trading.  Amundsen  speaks  of  a  man  who  ' '  grinned 
all  over  his  face  with  glee,  at  having,  as  he  thought,  so  suc 
cessfully  tricked  me."  And  when  discovered,  he  "could  not 
help  laughing  at  his  failure."  (1.2:56.)  A  woman,  "when  she 
saw  she  was  found  out,  burst  out  laughing  heartily,  all  the  rest 
joining  in."  (1.1:173.) 

Again  they  try  to  throw  off  suspicion  by  friendly  actions, 
or  if  convicted,  to  offer  excuses.  Some  Eskimo  were  suspected 
of  stealing  flour  from  the  Beechey  expedition,  and  the  suspicion 
was  strengthened  by  their  unusual  and  conciliatory  conduct. 
Also  they 

"protested  that  they  were  innocent  of  the  theft,  and  as  proof  that  they 
could  not  possibly  have  committed  it,  they  spat  into  the  sea  with  disgust, 
in  order  to  show  how  much  they  disliked  the  taste  of  the  material,  little 
considering  that  the  fact  of  their  knowing  it  to  be  nauseous  was  a  proof 
of  their  having  tasted  it."  (4:  389.) 

An  East  Greenlander,  who,  in  buying  knives,  took  two,  one  on 
top  of  the  other,  assured  Holm  that  it  had  happened  by  mis 
take  "as  the  knives  were  so  thin."  Later  he  confessed  that  a 
neighbor  had  whispered  to  him  to  act  thus,  "for  it  would  not 
be  discovered."  (30:177.)  A  woman  told  Paul  Egede  that 
she  had  stolen  a  knife  from  a  ship;  but  she  became  dizzy,  as 
a  result  of  her  act  she  thought,  and  went  back  and  put  the 
knife  where  she  had  taken  it.  Another  Eskimo  interjected 
that  he  had  stolen  many  times  from  the  Dutch  and  had  always 
felt  well  afterwards.  But  then  he  did  not  think  God  cared 
for  the  Dutch,  nor  they  for  him;  they  did  not  say  grace  at 


60  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

meals  as  the  Danish  missionaries  did,  nor  had  they  morning 
and  evening  prayer.     (19:98.) 
We  are  told  by  Murdoch  that 

"there  was  seldom  any  difficulty  in  obtaining  restitution  of  stolen  articles, 
as  the  thief's  comrades  would  not  attempt  to  shield  him,  but  often  volun 
tarily  betrayed  him."  (42:  41.) 

According  to  Holm,  they  informed  about  each  other  for  fear 
of  themselves  being  apprehended.  Some  sought  reward  for 
acting  as  informers.  "When  a  man  was  accused  of  stealing, 
the  first  question  was  always  who  had  reported  him."  (30: 
177.)  This  is  significant  as  indicating  that,  while  stealing  from 
foreigners  may  not  be  condemned  among  them,  on  the  other 
hand  the  thief  acts  only  in  his  individual  capacity  at  his  own 
risk,  not  being  able  to  claim  the  support  or  protection  of  his 
fellows. 

There  is  evidence  to  show  that  this  thieving  habit  is  far 
from  universal.  Murdoch  says  there  were  many  who  resisted 
the  temptation  to  steal.  Other  writers  too  speak  very  highly 
of  some  natives,  even  whole  tribes.  Amundsen  found  the 
Nechilli  very  trustworthy  in  this  respect.  He  placed  his  depot 
under  their  care.  (1.1:281.)  Beechey  speaks  of  one  group  as 
"exceedingly  honest."  (4:378;  cf.  391.)  Cartwright,  after 
sixteen  years  among  the  Eskimo  of  Labrador,  goes  on  record 
that  "there  is  not  a  nation  under  the  sun,  with  which  I  would 
sooner  trust  my  person  and  property."  (12.) 

Still,  it  is  doubtless  true  that  a  certain  double  standard  with 
respect  to  the  appropriation  of  other  men's  goods  is  found  among 
the  Eskimo.  One  cause  is  probably  to  be  found  in  one  phase 
of  their  ' '  ethnocentrism. "  Says  Nansen: 

"We  must  remember  that  a  foreigner  is  to  him  an  indifferent  object;  it 
matters  little  to  him  whether  he  can  rely  on  the  foreigner  or  not,  since  he 
has  not  got  to  live  with  him.  Thus  he  does  not  always  find  it  inconsistent 
with  his  interests  to  appropriate  a  little  of  the  foreigner's  property,  if  he 
thinks  it  can  be  of  use  to  him."  (43:  159.) 

Another  consideration  which  enters  in  to  determine  their  ac 
tions  is  the  treatment  the  Eskimo,  like  other  primitive  peoples 
have  been  subjected  to  by  representatives  of  "civilization."  A 
rehearsal  of  the  records  of  injustice,  robbery  and  fraud  per 
petrated  on  the  Eskimo  alone  would  stretch  this  discussion  to 
unwarranted  length;  besides  it  would  not  be  a  discussion  of 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  61 

ESKIMO  morality.  For  a  few  cases,  see  43:159-161.  To  quote 
just  one  sentence  from  this  authority: 

"Let  us  suppose  that  it  had  been  the  Eskimo  who  came  and  planted 
themselves  upon  our  shores,  and  behaved  as  we  did  in  Greenland— would 
it  then  have  been  altogether  inconsistent  with  our  moral  code  to  rob  and 
filch  from  them  whatever  we  could  ?"  (43:  160.) 

One  suspects  that  past  experience  has  something  to  do  with 
such  behavior  as  that  described  by  Beechey.  Notwithstanding 
good  treatment  by  his  expedition,  the  Eskimo  required 

"much  persuasion  to  induce  them  to  come  upon  the  deck,  and  even  when 
some  of  them  were  prevailed  upon  to  do  so,  they  took  the  precaution  of 
leaving  with  their  comrades  in  the  boat  every  valuable  article  which  they 
had  about  their  persons/*  (4:  402.) 

Then,  a  third,  and  it  may  well  be  the  most  important  rea 
son,  may  be  found  in  the  state  of  the  property-sense  and 
property-order  among  the  Eskimo,  a  subject  we  have  just 
discussed.  With  our  insanely  overwrought  sense  of  the  "  sanc 
tity  "  and  (( rights"  of  property,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the 
Eskimo  point  of  view.  Their  economic  system  is  based  on  a 
practical  application  of  the  idea  of  the  absolute  subordination 
of  material  means  to  human  and  social  ends.  We  have  noted 
the  principle  on  which  they  place  restrictions  on  possession  of 
unnecessary  wealth.  Now,  as  Nansen  points  out, 

"it  must  be  taken  into  account  that  in  comparison  with  the  Eskimo  the 
Europeans  possess  property  in  superabundance.  According  to  Eskimo 
morality,  therefore,  it  appears  that  we  ought  to  be  able  to  disperse  with 
some  of  our  superfluity,  and  if  we  decline  to  do  so,  we  are  miserly  and 
selfish. "  {43:160.) 

19.    BEGGING 

We  will  mention  briefly  another  practice,  namely  begging. 
Explorers  frequently  complain  of  this  among  the  Eskimo.  It 
is  practically  certain,  however,  that  this  is  due  to  contact  with 
the  whites.  According  to  Nelson,  "begging  is  common  only 
among  Eskimo  who  have  had  considerable  intercourse  with 
white  men/'  People  not  accustomed  to  meeting  white  men 
he  found  little  addicted  to  it,  and  "their  manner  usually  more 
frank  and  attractive."  (45:295.)  He  believes  that  this  habit 
has  come  about  through  indiscriminate  giving  of  presents.  This 
view  agrees  exactly  with  the  experience  and  opinion  of  Ste- 
fansson.  He  found  no  begging  among  the  Eskimo  he  discov- 


62  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

ered.  He  relates  that,  at  one  place,  he  made  a  present  of  one 
needle  to  each  of  over  two  score  married  women. 

"Of  course  1  kept  no  books,  but  I  feel  certain  that  every  one  of  these 
women  brought  me  something  with  which  to  pay  for  the  needle,  most  of 
them  saying  that  they  did  not  want  me  to  think  that  they  were  people 
who  accepted  gifts.7'  (58:  200.) 

In  Alaska  he  found  just  the  opposite  condition. 

20.     GAMBLING 

According  to  Boas,  "In  winter  gambling  is  one  of  the  fa 
vorite  amusements  of  the  Eskimo."  (5:567.)  He  describes 
a  game  of  chance  which  looks  innocent  enough.  (5:569.)  Mur 
doch  reports  "only  one  game  which  appears  to  be  of  the  nature 
of  gambling";  it  is  "a  very  popular  amusement."  (42:364.) 
Certain  Alaskan  natives  are  described  by  Holmberg  as  "pas 
sionate  gamblers."  It  is  "not  rare  for  them  to  lose  all  their 
belongings  in  this  way."  (32:123.)  In  the  Ungava  district, 
it  is  said  that 

' '  gambling  is  carried  on  to  such  a  degree  among  both  sexes  that  even  their 
own  lives  are  staked  upon  the  issue  of  a  game.  The  winner  often  obtains 
the  wife  of  his  opponent,  and  holds  her  until  some  tempting  offer  is  made 
for  her  return.  The  only  article  they  possess  is  frequently  wagered,  and 
when  they  lose  they  are  greeted  with  derision.  The  women  especially, 
stake  their  only  garments  rather  than  be  without  an  opportunity  to  play. ' ' 
(66:178.) 

The  methods,  and  probably  the  extent,  of  gambling  have  been 
influenced  by  the  white  men.  (See  66:178;  42:364.)  Peary 
found  no  gambling  among  the  Eskimo  with  whom  he  came  in 
contact.  (48:47.) 

21.     MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE 

As  we  have  already  noted,  the  Eskimo  have  no  clan  organi 
zation.  The  selection  of  conjugal  partners  is  restricted  only 
by  certain  degree  of  kinship.  First  cousins  are  prohibited  from 
intermarrying.  (19  :79 ;  16.1 :147 ;  43 :175 ;  5 :579 ;  6 :158.)  The 
same  prohibition  seems  to  apply  to  a  boy  and  girl  who  have 
been  reared  in  the  same  family,  they  being  regarded  practically 
as  brother  and  sister.  An  exception  to  the  latter  rule  is  noted 
from  East  Greenland.  (30:94.)  Waldmann  says  that  in  Lab 
rador  marriage  was  often  contracted  between  first  cousins. 
(69:435.)  There  are  also  traces  of  prohibition  of  marriage 


GILBEETSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  63 

between  legal  relatives.  Thus,  Crantz  says  that  rarely  did  a 
man  marry  two  sisters  or  a  mother  and  her  daughter;  "such  a 
contract  draws  down  general  odium  upon  the  parties  con 
cerned."  (16.1:147;  30:95.)  On  the  other  hand,  Boas  found 
no  rule  against  a  man's  marrying  two  sisters  among  the  Cen 
tral  Eskimo.  (5:579.)  Folk-lore  tells  of  troubles  resulting 
from  efforts  to  marry  sister-in-law  and  daughter-in-law,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  the  relationship  of  the  parties  plays 
any  part  in  the  narrator's  mind.  (53:397;  6:286.) 

Nansen  says  that,  in  Greenland,  "a  man  should,  if  possible, 
seek  his  wife  in  another  village."  (43:175.)  Neither  descrip 
tions  nor  folk-lore  give  the  impression  that  this  is  any  wide 
spread  rule.  The  close  kinship  of  fellow-villagers  may  lead 
to  such  conditions.  Turner  speaks  of  a  group  in  which,  al 
though  the  females  outnumber  the  males,  the  relationship  is  so 
close  that  many  seek  their  wives  from  other  localities.  (66 :189.) 

There  are  frequent  references  in  folk-lore  to  marriages  within 
the  prohibited  degrees.  This  does  not  imply  a  similar  fre 
quency  in  real  life.  The  contrary  seems  to  be  true.  The  most 
prominent  incest-motive  in  Eskimo  mythology  is  the  story  of 
the  origin  of  the  sun  and  moon.  A  man  had  sexual  relations 
with  his  sister,  who  blackened  his  face  with  soot.  He  pursued 
her  into  the  sky,  where  she  became  the  sun,  and  he,  with  the 
sooty  face,  the  moon.  (20:54;  63:275;  6:173;  37:179;  30:99; 
31:268.)  A  Cumberland  Sound  tale  relates  how  a  man  was 
hated  because  he  cohabited  with  his  mother;  he  was  killed  by 
his  brother  (6:283);  similar,  with  foster-mother  (6:297).  In 
a  Greenland  tale,  a  couple  thought  that  the  cause  of  their  chil 
dren's  dying  was  "perhaps  we  are  too  near  kin."  (53:391.) 
Turner  reports  a  case  where  a  son  took  his  mother  for  wife, 
apparently  at  her  wish,  but  "the  sentiment  of  the  community 
compelled  him  to  discard  her."  (66:180.) 

Necessity  appears  to  be  an  extenuating  circumstance.  The 
natives  of  Southampton  Island  ascribe  their  ancestry  to  a  man, 
who  was  driven  to  the  island,  where  he  married  his  daughter; 
"the  people  are  the  descendants  of  this  couple."  (6:478.) 
According  to  a  Greenland  tradition,  a  man  married  his  adopted 
sister;  for  they  lived  alone.  (53:170.)  A  somewhat  different 
situation  was  that  of  the  giant  who  married  his  sister,  "because 
she  was  the  only  woman  tall  enough  for  him."  (6:292.)  No 


64  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

credence  can  be  given  Langsdorff's  statement  that  certain  Alas 
kan  Eskimo  "  cohabit  promiscuously,  brothers  and  sisters,  pa 
rents  and  children"  (quoted  2.1:81),  except  that  he  may  have 
heard  of  some  cases. 

A  practice  which  seems  to  have  been  prevalent  among  the 
Eskimo  is  child-betrothal,  decided  by  agreement  of  the  parents. 
(53:23;  16.1:146;  42:410;  47:26;  25:567.)  This  may  even  go 
so  far  that  "two  friends,  desirous  of  cementing  their  tie  of 
fellowship,  engage  that  their  children  yet  unborn  shall  be 
mated."  (66:188.)  However,  "these  engagements  not  being 
strictly  binding,  may  be  broken  off  at  any  time."  (5:578; 
cf.  48:60.)  In  some  cases  one  of  the  parties  may  be  an  adult, 
the  other  a  mere  child,  the  arrangements  being  made  by  the 
latter 's  parents.  (42:410;  1.1:307.) 

Early  marriages  are  the  rule.  (30:94;  69:434;  43:139; 
42:411;  66:188.)  Marriage  may  take  place  even  before  pu 
berty.  Holm  says  that  in  East  Greenland  it  is  not  rare  that 
young  people  marry  three  or  four  times  before  that  age. 
Crantz'  statement  that  "a  man  seldom  thinks  of  marriage  till 
he  is  twenty  years  of  age"  (16.1:145)  does  not  seem  to  hold. 
The  requisite  qualification  for  the  male  is  that  he  is  a  suffi 
ciently  able  hunter  to  provide  for  the  female,  and  "has  the 
requisite  strength  to  force  her  to  become  his  wife,"  as  Turner 
adds.  She  must  be  proficient  in  the  arts  which  pertain  to 
woman.  (66:188;  43:138;  30:94;  42:410.) 

As  to  the  motives  for  marriage,  Murdoch  writes,  "As  far 
as  we  could  learn,  marriage  was  entered  upon  generally  from 
reasons  of  interest  or  convenience,  with  very  little  regard  for 
affection,  as  we  understand  it."  He  acknowledges,  however, 
that  "there  were  some  indications  that  real  love  matches  some 
times  took  place. "  (42 :410 ;  see  also  16.1 :145 ;  30 :94. )  The  de 
nial  of  the  possession  by  primitive  peoples  of  what  is  called 
"romantic  love"  is  a  favorite  proposition  with  some  writers, 
as  for  instance,  Finck.  But  folk-lore  and  real  life  furnish 
evidence  of  its  presence  among  the  Eskimo.  (5:615;  31:320.) 
Nansen's  words  are  well  chosen: 

"Love  is  by  no  means  unknown  in  Greenland;  but  the  Greenland  variety 
of  it  is  a  simple  impulse  of  nature.  It  does  not  make  the  lover  sick  of 
soul,  but  drives  him  to  the  sea,  to  the  chase;  it  strengthens  his  arm  and 
sharpens  his  sight ;  for  his  one  desire  is  to  become  an  expert  hunter,  so  that 
he  can  lead  his  Naia  home  as  his  bride,  and  support  a  family. "  (43:  138.) 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  65 

Worthy  of  being  noted  here  is  a  romance  revealed  by  Peary's 
words  (48:52): 

"Hot-hearted  young  Ooqueah  of  my  North  Pole  party  fought  his  way 
with  me  to  the  goal  for  the  posse8sion  of  the  daughter  of  old  Ikwa.v.  This 
young  knight  of  the  northland  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  some 
times  an  Eskimo  man  or  woman  may  be  as  intense  in  his  or  her  affairs 
of  the  heart  as  we  are." 

The  usual  principals  in  the  preliminaries  of  marriage  are 
the  prospective  bridegroom  and  the  young  woman's  parents, 
or,  if  they  are  dead,  her  brothers.  The  advice  of  the  man's 
parents  is  also  given  consideration.  (19:79;  69:434;  53:397; 
30:94;  16.1:145.)  The  services  of  mediators  are  sometimes 
enlisted  in  winning  the  desired  maiden.  (53:23;  69:434;  16.1: 
145.)  Probably  the  employment  of  these  third  parties  is  not 
at  all  common.  The  dashing  young  Eskimo  hunter  ordinarily 
prefers  to  do  his  own  wooing.  In  a  folk  tale  we  are  told  that 
the  reason  a  youth  sent  a  mediator  was  that  he  was  "bashful 
and  afraid  to  speak  for  himself."  (5:615.) 

There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  regular  system  of  purchase- 
money  or  of  dowry,  though  traces  of  both  are  found.  Holm 
says  that  ''the  young  man  must  sometimes  pay  the  father  to 
get  his  daughter  in  marriage,"  but  also,  "good  hunters  are 
paid  by  fathers  to  marry  their  daughters."  (30 :96 ;  cf.  55 :188 ; 
43:135.)  A  young  man,  who  did  not  possess  the  necessary 
wherewithal  to  indemnify  the  parents  secured  the  girl  on  credit, 
and  "he  owes  them  still,"  remarks  Waldmann,  who  relates  the 
case.  ( 69 :434. )  It  is  customary  for  the  woman  to  bring  with 
her  certain  household  utensils,  besides  her  clothing.  These 
things  remain  her  own  property.  (16.1:145;  53:24;  42:414.) 

Kink's  view  that  marriage  was  rarely  consummated  "with 
out  some  degree  of  force  having  been  practiced  upon  the  b»ide ' ' 
(53:23;  cf.  43:139)  seems  to  be  well  substantiated,  though  there 
are  undoubtedly  not  a  few  exceptions.  Wife-capture  is  a  fa 
vorite  theme  in  folk-lore.  (52:323,  450,  453.)  The  abduction 
may  be  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  girl's  pa 
rents.  (1.146.)  But  ordinarily  the  marriage  has  been  duly 
arranged,  and  the  only  resistant  is  the  bride-elect.  (16.2:105; 
20 :28 ;  42 :412.)  WThile  to  all  appearances,  the  abduction  is  much 
against  the  girl's  will,  it  seems  that  appearances  are  in  this 
case  often  deceptive.  Crantz  says  that,  on  hearing  the  pro 
posal, 


66  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

"the  damsel  directly  falls  into  the  greatest  apparent  consternation,  for 
single  women  always  affect  the  utmost  bashfulness  and  aversion  to  any 
proposal  of  marriage,  lest  they  should  lost  their  reputation  for  modesty, 
though  their  destined  husbands  be  previously  well  assured  of  their  acquies 
cence/'  (16,  1:  146;  cf.  19:  79.) 

Paul  Egede  tells  of  a  bride  who  ran  away  from  the  man's 
house  several  times,  always,  however,  "where  she  expected  to 
be  found."  (20:28.)  Nansen's  comment  on  this  custom  is 
interesting : 

"In  Greenland,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  good  taste  demanded  that 
the  lady  in  question  should  on  no  account  let  it  appear  that  she  was  a 
consenting  party,  however  favorably  disposed  towards  her  wooer  she  might 
be  in  her  heart.  The  Eskimo  bride  was  bound  to  struggle  against  her 
captor,  and  to  wail  and  bemoan  herself  as  much  as  ever  she  could.  When 
they  first  saw  marriages  conducted  after  the  European  fashion,  they 
thought  it  very  shocking  that  the  bride,  when  asked  if  she  would  have  the 
bridegroom  for  her  husband,  should  answer  Yes.  According  to  their  ideas, 
it  would  be  much  more  becoming  for  her  to  answer  No.  When  assured  that 
this  was  the  custom  among  us,  they  were  of  the  opinion  that  our  women 
must  be  devoid  of  modesty."  (43:  140.) 

However,  "it  sometimes  happens  that  the  young  woman  really 
objects  to  her  wooer."  (43:141.)  In  such  cases,  she  either 
has  her  way  (16.1:146)  or  she  is  taken  against  her  will,  when 
she  may  give  the  man  visible  remembrances  of  a  strenuous 
fight.  (66:181.) 

More  informal  ways  (for  forcible  abduction  is  "good  form") 
obtain,  however,  in  which  the  young  people  decide  the  matter 
between  themselves.  (53:263,  406.)  Crantz'  assertion  that  a 
woman  "can  never  make  choice  of  a  husband"  (16.1:159) 
must  admit  of  exceptions.  There  are  several  instances  on 
record  where  the  girl  has  a  definite  choice  in  the  matter  (66: 
188;  50:55;  53:208.)  One  of  Cartwright's  experiences  shows 
that  independence  of  spirit  and  action  is  not  entirely  wanting 
among  Eskimo  women.  A  man  arranged  with  this  English 
gentleman  to  give  the  latter  one  of  his  wives,  a  young  woman 
of  sixteen.  All  her  relatives  "expressed  great  pleasure  at  the 
honor  of  the  alliance."  But  the  woman  thought  otherwise. 
"You  are  an  old  fellow  and  I  will  have  nothing  to  say  to 
you,"  was  her  verdict.  "So  there  ended  my  courtship,"  re 
marks  the  author.  Like  independence  was  shown  by  a  widow 
who,  according  to  a  tale,  "greatly  harassed  by  the  persecutions 
of  a  man  who  wanted  to  marry  her,  fled  to  the  inland  with 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  67 

her  little  son,  whom  she  educated  with  the  view  of  making  him 
a  hater  of  the  male  sex."  (53:462.) 

It  happens  that  a  suitor  encounters  not  only  the  objections 
of  the  girl  or  her  parents  or  both,  but  also  those  of  rivals. 
Peary  reports  that 

1 '  if  two  men  want  to  marry  the  same  woman,  they  settle  the  question  by 
a  trial  of  strength,  and  the  better  man  has  his  way.  These  struggles  are 
not  fights,  as  the  disputants  are  amiable." 

Another  method  is  reported  by  Boas  (6:466);  the  woman  is 
made  to  stand  in  the  center  of  a  hut,  where  the  older  people 
assemble,  and  the  several  suitors  try  to  get  possession  of  her, 
the  strongest  being  allowed  to  marry  her.  "In  one  of  these 
cases,  two  men  struggled  for  a  woman,  and  when  they  were 
tired  out,  a  third  man  rushed  in  and  carried  her  off."  This 
custom  is  known  also  among  the  neighboring  Athapascan  In 
dians.  A  gentler  method  was  that  adopted  by  two  Green- 
landers  who  agreed  to  make  the  test  a  kayak  race.  (53:170.) 
Marriage  ceremonies  seem  to  be  almost  unknown  among  the 
Eskimo.  Rink's  statement  that  "the  wedding  was  performed 
without  any  special  ceremony"  appears  to  indicate  the  general 
rule.  Hans  Egede  states  that  "well-to-do  parents  have  a  feast 
for  their  son 's  wedding. "  (19 :80. )  Murdoch  reports  a  celebra 
tion  in  the  home  of  the  bride's  parents.  (42:411.)  Bancroft 
does  not  give  the  authority  for  a  description  of  an  Alaskan 
marriage  ceremonial.  (2.1:83.)  Hans  Egede  states  that  there 
was  also  a  feast  "the  day  after  the  bridegroom  slept  with  the 
bride."  (19:80.)  This  suggests  a  postponement  of  the  con 
summation  of  the  marriage.  Light  may  perhaps  be  cast  on 
this  obscure  passage  by  a  remark  by  Paul  Egede  that  a  day 
or  two  should,  according  to  custom,  elapse  after  the  bride  had 
been  brought  to  the  man's  house.  (20:28.)  These  are  the 
only  references  I  have  found  to  any  such  custom  among  the 
Eskimo.  This  people  are  singularly  free  from  sexual  rites  and 
taboos,  of  the  sort  which  fill  Crawley's  volume,  The  Mystic 
Rose.  Evidence  from  Eskimo  society  tends  to  support  Wester- 
marek's  very  moderately  expressed  opinion  that  Crawley  has 
"somewhat  exaggerated"  the  danger  attributed  to  sexual  inter 
course.  (71.2:415.)  Murdoch  well  states  the  Eskimo  conception 
of  marriage  as  far  as  its  social  relations  are  concerned:  "The 
marriage  bond  was  regarded  simply  as  a  contract  entered  into 


68  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

by  agreement  of  the  contracting  parties."  (42:411.)  The  ab 
sence  of  ceremonial  reflects  this  attitude  of  non-interference  by 
the  group. 

The  prevailing  form  of  marriage  is  monogamy,  but  polygamy 
and  even  polyandry  are  allowed  and  practiced.  (6:115,  466; 
5:579;  50:65;  33:41;  16.1:147;  45:292;  19:77;  66:188;  63:276; 
53:23;  43:145;  30:95;  42:411.)  Polygamy  is  conditioned  on  a 
man's  possession  of  sufficient  wealth  to  support  more  than  one 
wife;  hence  it  is  possible  only  for  the  ablest  hunters.  Thus  it 
may  be  regarded  as  a  mark  of  honor.  Another  condition  in 
fluencing  the  form  of  marriage  is  the  numerical  ratio  between 
the  sexes  in  any  given  group.  Thus,  among  the  Polar  Eskimo, 
polygamy  is  very  rare,  as  there  are  more  men  than  women. 
(50:65;  cf.  30:96.)  Another  factor  to  be  taken  into  account 
is  the  custom  of  the  man's  becoming  a  member  of  his  wife's 
family.  As  Boas  points  out,  this  would  serve  as  a  check  to 
polygamy.  "It  is  only  when  the  new  family  settles  on  its  own 
account  that  a  man  is  at  full  liberty  to  take  additional  wives." 
( 5:579;  cf.  42:410.)  This  custom  is  not  universal,  nor  even 
usual,  as  far  as  our  evidence  tends  to  show.  It  appears  to  be 
more  common  for  the  young  couple  to  live  with  the  husband's 
parents.  (See  e.g.,  6:115.)  When  free  from  obligations  to 
support  relatives,  the  couple  ordinarily  maintain  separate 
households. 

Among  the  motives  for  polygamy,  the  desire  for  offspring 
plays  the  most  important  role,  although  Rink's  statement  that 
polygamy  was  "only  approved  by  public  opinion  in  so  far  as 
it  aimed  at  the  propagation  of  .male  descendants"  is  to  be  re 
garded  as  too  sweeping.  He  makes  the  same  assertion  in  regard 
to  divorce  and  wife-exchanging,  in  which  cases  the  exceptions 
to  the  rule  he  lays  down  are  even  more  numerous.  (53:23.) 
But  we  can  accept  Crantz'  statement  that 

"since  it  is  esteemed  a  disgrace  to  have  no  children,  and  especially  no 
son  to  support  their  declining  age,  such  childless  Greenlanders  as  are 
competent  to  maintain  several  wives,  will  seldom  restrict  themselves  to 
one."  (16.  1:  147;  cf.  30:  97.) 

Relief  from  further  child-bearing  on  the  part  of  the  first  wife 
may  also  be  a  desideratum.  A  woman,  on  being  asked  why 
her  husband  had  taken  another  wife,  replied,  "I  asked  him  to 
myself,  for  I'm  tired  of  bearing  children."  (43:144;  cf. 
16.1:147.) 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  69 

Another  motive  is  desire  for  additional  help  in  the  female 
branch  of  the  domestic  economy.  Thus  we  are  told  of  a  man 
who  "married  a  young  wife,  so  as  to  have  somebody  at  home 
to  do  the  work,"  his  first  wife  being  old  and  feeble.  (33:41.) 
The  wife  herself  sometimes  suggests  the  second  marriage,  in 
order  that  she  may  have  help  in  her  household  work.  (43: 
144;  cf.  55:189;  30:95.) 

Hans  Egede  found,  what  he  considered  remarkable,  that, 
before  the  preaching  of  the  missionaries,  there  was  no  jealousy 
connected  with  the  plural  marriages.  (19:78.)  There  are 
cases,  however,  where  the  women  regard  each  other  as  rivals. 
(30:103;  63:276.)  But  as  a  rule  they  get  along  well  together. 

The  first  wife  retains  a  primacy  in  the  direction  of  the  house 
hold.  (19:78;  69:435;  53:25;  16.1:148.)  This  is  true  even 
if  the  husband  shows  a  preference  for  the  second.  (43:145.) 

Divorce  is  unrestricted,  and  as  unceremonious  as  is  the  con 
tracting  of  marriage.  The  causes  of  separation  are  legion,  in 
fact,  anything  which  either  party  may  regard  as  sufficient. 
In  this  respect,  wives  are  as  free  to  suit  themselves  as  are 
husbands.  According  to  Peary,  what  he  calls  "trial  mar 
riage,"  is 

' '  an  ineradicable  custom  among  the  Eskimo.  If  a  young  man  and  woman 
are  not  suited  with  each  other  they  try  again,  and  sometimes  several  times, 
but  when  they  find  mates  to  whom  they  are  adapted,  the  arrangement  is 
generally  permanent.  ...  If  a  man  grows  tired  of  his  wife,  he  simply 
tells  her  there  is  not  room  for  her  in  the  igloo.  She  may  return  to  her 
parents,  if  they  are  living;  she  may  go  to  a  brother  or  a  sister;  or  she 
may  send  word  to  some  man  in  the  tribe  that  she  is  now  at  liberty  and 
willing  to  start  life  again.'7  (48:  59.) 

Murdoch  says  that  marriage  is  easily  dissolved,  "on  account 
of  incompatibility  of  temper,  or  even  on  account  of  temporary 
disagreement."  One  wife  was  discarded  because  of  "a  dis 
agreeable  and  querulous  temper."  The  husband  married  an 
other  woman,  but  "his  second  matrimonial  venture  was  no 
more  successful  than  his  first,  for  his  young  wife  proved  to 
be  a  great  talker."  He  said  "she  talked  all  the  time,  so  that 
he  could  not  eat  and  could  not  sleep."  So  he  sent  her  away, 
and  tried  his  luck  a  third  time.  Another  man,  who  had  two 
wives,  divorced  the  younger  one.  "The  reason  he  assigned  was 
that  she  was  lazy,  would  not  make  her  own  clothes,  and  was 
disobedient  to  the  older  wife  to  whom  he  was  much  attached." 


70  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

(42:411;  cf.  45:392;  5:579.)  Crantz  writes  that  the  husband 
only  gives  an  undesirable  wife  a  sour  look,  and  then  absents 
himself  for  a  few  days. 

''She  immediately  takes  the  hint,  packs  up  her  effects,  and  withdraws  to 
her  relatives,  demeaning  herself  in  the  future,  as  discreetly  as  possible,  in 
order  to  chagrin  him,  and  bring  scandal  upon  his  conduct/'  (16,  1:  147; 
cf.  43:  143.) 

Desire  for  children,  which  we  have  seen  to  be  perhaps  the 
chief  reason  for  polygamy,  is  also  a  potent  cause  of  divorce. 
Crantz  says  that  a  childless  wife  lives  "in  continual  dread  of 
divorce"  (16.1:151),  while 

''it  rarely  happens  that  a  separation  takes  place  when  they  have  children, 
and  especially  sons,  who  are  their  greatest  treasure,  and  best  security 
against  future  want."  (16,  1:  148.) 

Holm  says  that  in  East  Greenland,  disagreements  between 
married  people  are  usually  settled  without  rupture  of  the  mar 
riage  relation, 

"especially  if  the  woman  has  children.  If  she  has  no  children  it  is  not 
infrequent  that  the  woman  or  the  man,  when  opportunity  offers,  leaves 
without  saying  anything."  (3D:  97.) 

The  author  just  quoted  enumerates  an  interesting  and  repre 
sentative  list  of  grounds  for  divorce,  including  the  following: 
They  had  tired  of  each  other,  the  wife  was  a  poor  seamstress, 
the  wife  wanted  to  live  where  her  family  lived,  her  husband's 
family  neglected  her.  One  man  gave  as  his  reason  that  "she 
ate  so  much  that  he  didn't  get  enough  to  eat."  (30:100.)  As 
illustrating  the  frequency  of  divorce  in  some  cases,  he  mentions 
one  woman,  twenty  years  old,  who  had  had  six  husbands,  and 
had  just  married  the  seventh.  (30:101.)  Another,  after  hav 
ing  tried  eight  husbands,  remarried  No.  6,  whom  she  pronounced 
"the  best  of  her  husbands";  although  he  had  struck  and 
whipped  her,  "she  longed  so  for  him  that  she  couldn't  sleep  at 
night."  (30:103.) 

Folk-lore,  in  this  feature  as  in  all  others,  truthfully  reflects 
Eskimo  life.  Characteristic  is  the  tale  of  a  man  who  separated 
from  three  wives,  with  each  of  whom  he  lived  only  a  month 
or  two.  Two  of  these  he  had  divorced  "because  they  didn't 
keep  his  boots  in  order."  (31 :329 ;  see  also  53 :255,  303.)  Boas 
records  a  tale,  indicating  that  ideas  of  "emancipated  women" 
are  not  unknown  among  the  Eskimo.  (5:628.) 


GILBEBTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  71 

Two  women  deserted  their  husbands,  with  whom  they  quarreled,  and  went 
to  live  by  themselves.  The  husbands,  wishing  their  wives  back  again, 
sent  the  women's  fathers  after  them.  But  these  found  the  women  unwil 
ling  to  return.  The  men  ' '  told  the  strange  story  that  two  women  >?ithout 
the  company  of  any  men  lived  all  by  themselves,  and  were  never  in  want." 

It  appears  that  primitive  Enoch  Ardens  are  to  be  found 
among  the  Eskimo.  This  theme  is  also  dealt  with  in  folk-lore. 

In  one  tale,  the  first  husbands  return  to  find  their  wives 
married  to  other  men.  The  women  are  given  back  to  the  for 
mer,  who  say  to  the  second  husbands,  "Many  thanks  to  you 
that  ye  have  provided  so  well  for  our  relatives."  Certainly  a 
philosophic  attitude.  (53:196;  see  also  31:298.) 

Similar  tactics  to  those  pursued  when  two  men  wanted  the 
same  girl,  seem  to  be  resorted  to  if  a  man  wants  another's  wife. 
Peary  tells  us  that  the  former  simply  says  to  the  husband,  "I 
am  the  better  man,"  and  the  husband  has  then  either  to  prove 
his  superiority  in  strength  or  surrender  the  woman.  (48:59.) 
So  also  Nansen  says,  "If  a  man  takes  a  fancy  to  another  man's 
wife,  he  takes  her  without  ceremony,  if  he  happens  to  be  the 
stronger."  (43:143;  cf.  30:96;  31:330;  20:65:)  Sometimes  a 
wife  is  carried  away  by  another  man,  at  the  request  of  her 
family,  that  she  may  get  better  support.  (30:100.)  Cartwright 
gives  an  account,  perhaps  somewhat  overdrawn,  of  a  bloody 
struggle  resulting  from  an  affair  of  this  kind.  (12.328.)  Nel 
son  states  that  formerly,  at  Bering  Strait,  the  husband  and  his 
rival  were  "disarmed  by  the  neighbors  and  then  settled  the 
trouble  with  their  fists  or  by  wrestling,  the  victor  taking  the 
woman."  (49:292.)  More  subtle  methods  may  be  pursued. 
According  to  Turner,  a  man  may  bribe  an  angakok  to  get  a 
woman  from  her  husband  "under  threats  of  supernatural  evil." 
(66:189.)  Designing  women  are  not  above  pursuing  similar 
tactics  to  get  husbands  away  from  their  wives.  (66:189.) 

22.       EXTRA-NUPTIAL    RELATIONS 

Many  writers  speak  of  the  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  unmarried 
of  both  sexes  among  the  Eskimo.  For  instance,  Murdoch  writes 
as  follows: 

"As  to  the  relations  between  the  sexes  there  seems  to  be  the  most  com 
plete  absence  of  what  we  consider  moral  feelings.  Promiscuous  sexual 
intercourse  between  married  and  unmarried  people,  or  even  among  chil 
dren,  appears  to  be  looked  upon  simply  as  a  matter  for  amusement.  As 


72  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

far  as  we  could  learn,  unchastity  in  a  girl  was  considered  nothing  against 
her."  (42:419.) 

Turner  says : 

"Many  of  the  girls  bear  children  before  they  are  taken  for  wives,  but  as 
such  incidents  do  not  destroy  the  respectability  of  the  mother,  the  girl 
does  not  experience  any  difficulty  in  procuring  a  husband.  (66:  189;  see 
also  30:  96;  45:  292.) 

On  the  other  hand,  Hans  Egede,  who  was  certainly  not  want 
ing  in  strictness  as  to  the  seventh  commandment,  says  of  the 
Greenlanders  of  his  day  (he  was  the  first  white  man  to  live 
among  them  in  modern  times)  : 

'  *  Young  women  and  girls  are  modest  enough,  as  we  have  never  seen  them 
have  any  wanton  relations  with  young  men,  or  give  the  least  indication  of 
such  conduct,  either  in  word  or  deed.  During  the  fifteen  years  I  was  in 
Greenland  I  knew  of  only  two  or  three  girls  who  became  pregnant  outside 
of  marriage;  for  this  is  held  to  be  a  great  disgrace."  (19:  78.) 

Dalager,  an  early  authority,  says  of  Eskimo  girls  that  "in 
their  first  years  of  maturity  they  bear  themselves  very  chastely, 
for  otherwise  they  are  certain  to  spoil  their  chances  of  mar 
riage."  (Quoted  43:167.)  Of  the  Greenlanders  in  general 
he  says  that  they  are  not  so  much  given  to  incontinence  as  are 
ether  nations.  It  may  be  noted  that  Nansen  accepts  the  above 
testimony  of  these  two  authorities,  as  substantially  accurate. 
Crantz  says,  in  one  place,  that 

"however  careful  their  young  and  single  people  may  be  to  avoid  all  open 
irregularity  in  their  deportment,  they  are  in  secret  quite  as  licentious  as 
those  of  other  nations"  (16.  1:  175), 

but  in  another  place  he  writes  that 

' '  the  women  are  seldom  guilty  of  incontinence,  with  the  exception  of  young 
widows  and  those  divorced  from  their  husbands.  Single  persons  of  both 
sexes  have  rarely  any  connections."  (16.  1:  145.) 

<W«fc4      IY    ****$  - 

The  authority  last  quoted  states  that  "there  are  among  them 

harlots  by  profession,  though  a  single  woman  will  seldom  follow 
this  infamous  trade."  (16.1:176.)  No  matter  what  may  be 
the  exact  condition  of  sexual  morality  in  general,  it  is  fairly 
certain  that  prostitution,  when  found  among  the  Eskimo,  is 
attributable  to  foreign  influence.  If  Crantz'  observation  is  cor 
rect,  the  cases  he  refers  to  may  well  have  been  due  to  contact 
with  traders.  Murdoch  states  that  prostitution  "is  carried  to 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  73 

a  most  shameless  extent  with  the  sailors  of  the  whaling  fleet 
by  many  of  the  women"  (46:420,  cf.  54;  also  1.1:202,  310), 
but  among  the  natives  themselves,  "  prostitution  for  gain  is 
unknown."  (Ibid.)  Of  the  natives  of  Labrador  we  are  told 
by  Waldmann  that  "since  they  have  been  in  contact  with  the 
fisherman,  there  has  been  a  relaxation  of  their  morals." 
(69:435.)  Nansen  discusses  at  length  the  effect  in  this  regard 
of  European  occupation  of  West  Greenland,  which  he  regards 
as  decidedly  detrimental,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  mission 
aries.  (43:163.)  He  says  a  young  native  woman  "positively 
glories"  in  illicit  relations  with  a  European,  and  "seems  to 
procure  additional  consideration  among  her  female  friends." 
Trebitsch  received  just  the  opposite  impression,  namely,  that 
"girls  who  cohabit  with  Europeans  are  derided  by  the  na 
tives."  (65:50.)  He  gives  samples  of  satirical  songs  about  such 
girls.  He  also  believes  that  "prostitution  is  unknown  in  all 
Greenland."  (65:16.) 

Without  attempting  to  resolve  the  contradictions  in  the  evi 
dence,  I  think  we  can  conclude  as  true  of  the  Eskimo  in  general, 
what  Murdoch  declares  concerning  the  natives  of  Point  Barrow, 
that  while  their  sexual  laxity  "seems  too  purely  animal  and 
natural  to  be  of  recent  growth,"  and  hence  can  hardly  be  said 
to  have  been  introduced  by  the  whites  (Holm's  statement  about 
the  East  Greenlanders  is  of  special  importance  on  this  point, 
30:96),  yet  this  laxity  has  undoubtedly  been  encouraged  by  the 
whites,  and,  finally,  these  "taught  them  prostitution  for  gain." 
(42:420.) 

There  is  more  agreement  of  observers  as  to  the  extra-nuptial 
intercourse  of  married  people  than  as  to  the  sexual  relations 
of  the  unmarried.  To  quote  Nansen: 

"The  strict  morality  which  obtained  among  the  unmarried  youths  and! 
maidens  on  the  west  coast  in  the  heathen  days  [he  follows  Hans  Egede, 
quoted  above],  seems  to  have  been  considerably  relaxed  when  once  they 
were  married.  The  men,  at  any  rate,  had  then  the  most  unrestricted  free 
dom."  (43:167.) 

According  to  Crantz,  "the  married  will  break  their  vows 
on  both  sides  with  the  utmost  shamelessness. "  (16.1:176.)  One 
restriction  to  unlimited  license  is  found  in  the  objections  of 
the  husband  of  the  woman  in  the  case,  when  his  consent  has 
not  been  given.  Nansen  is  of  the  opinion  that  if  a  heathen 
— and  in  many  cases,  even  a  Christian — Greenlander 


74  JOUENAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

" refrains  from  having  to  do  with  another  man's  wife,  whom  he  has  looked 
upon  with  favor,  it  is  generally  more  because  he  shrinks  from  quarreling 
with  the  husband  than  because  he  regards  adultery  as  morally  wrong." 
(43:  172;  to  the  same  effect,  69:  436.) 

Jealousy,  in  the  male,  at  least,  is  not  unknown.  (66:178, 
188;  30:97;  5:579.)  Holm  gives  as  an  illustration  of  this  a 
man  who  became  jealous  because  his  young  wife  smiled  at  a 
member  of  the  expedition.  Sometimes  "the  injured  husband 
does  not  seek  immediate  punishment,  but  smothers  his  resent 
ment,  till  he  has  an  opportunity  of  revenging  himself  in  a 
similar  manner."  Nelson  says  that  the  husband  "rarely 
avenges  himself  on  the  man  concerned,"  although  the  affair 
may  form  the  excuse  for  an  affray  where  there  has  been  pre 
vious  enmity.  He  may  beat  the  unfaithful  wife.  (45:292, 
cf.  16.1:147.)  The  extreme  penalty  is  given  in  a  tale  entitled 
*  *  The  Faithless  Wife, ' '  in  which  the  woman,  who  by  stealth  has 
had  illicit  relations,  is  killed.  (53:143;  cf.  6:224.)  Accord 
ing  to  Turner,  "the  male  offender  if  notoriously  persistent 
in  his  efforts  to  obtain  forbidden  favors,  is  usually  slain." 
(66:178.)  The  wives  are  allowed  greater  liberty  "when  they 
have  no  children  by  their  husbands,"  says  Paul  Egede. 
(20:135.) 

It  must  not  be  understood  that  this  sexual  license  is  uni 
versally  indulged  in.  Nansen,  after  picturing  the  present-day 
laxity  which  he  finds,  says  of  the  married  Greenlanders  that 
"their  every-day  behavior  is,  as  a  rule,  quite  reputable  and 
void  of  offence;  on  that  point  all  travellers  must  agree." 
(43:172.)  Even  Crantz  admits  that,  after  all,  "their  connu 
bial  intercourse  is  conducted  with  tolerable  decorum." 
(16.1:147;  see  also  42:420.)  A  saying  current  in  East  Green 
land,  that  "the  whale,  the  musk-ox,  and  the  reindeer  left  the 
country  because  the  men  had  too  much  to  do  with  other  men's 
wives,"  suggests  a  belief  that  indulgence  in  that  way  is  not 
quite  right.  Some  of  the  men,  however,  declared  it  was 
"because  the  women  were  jealous  of  their  husbands."  (30:100.) 

A  custom  found  among  the  Eskimo  everywhere  is  the  ex 
changing  and  lending  of  wives.  (5 :579 ;  6 :225 ;  66 :189  ;  48 :60 ; 
42  :413  ;  43  :148,  169  ;  69  :435 ;  26 :424. ) 

The  exchange  is  often  a  sign  of  friendship.  Thus,  at  Bering 
Strait,  where  it  is  common  for  two  men  in  different  villages 
to  become  bond-fellows  or  brothers  by  adoption,  one  of  them, 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  75 

when  received  as  guest  by  the  other,  is  given  the  use  of  his 
host's  bed  with  the  wife  during  his  stay.  When  the  visit  is 
returned,  the  same  favor  is  extended ;  as  a  consequence  '  *  neither 
family  knows  who  is  the  father  of  the  children."  (45:292; 
see  also  5:579;  42:413.) 

Sometimes  this  expression  of  good-will  is  connected  with 
decided  practical  advantage.  Thus,  to  quote  Rasmussen, 

"if  a  man  has  to  go  away  on  a  long  hunting  expedition,  and  he  wants  a 
woman  with  him,  he  can,  if  his  own  wife,  for  instance  on  account  of  preg 
nancy,  is  unfitted  to  endure  the  hardships  of  an  expedition  by  sledge,  lend 
her  to  a  man  who  is  remaining,  and  in  return  receives  his." 

Also 

' '  if  a  young  wife  is  homesick  for  friends  and  family  who  live  a  long  way 
off,  if  her  husband  is  willing  to  humor  her,  but  does  not  himself  wish  to 
undertake  the  journey,  a  man  fond  of  travelling  will  often  announce  him 
self  as  agreeable  to  take  the  other  on  her  visit,  leaving  his  own  wife  as 
hostage."  (50:64.) 

Murdoch  reports  a  similar  case  where  a  man,  on  going  on 
a  hunting  expedition,  borrowed  his  cousin's  wife,  "as  she  was 
a  good  shot,  and  a  good  hand  at  deer  hunting,"  while  his  own 
wife  went  with  the  other  man  on  a  trading  expedition. 
(42:413.) 

A  temporary  exchange  is  sometimes  made  permanent. 
(43:148.)  Murdoch  gives  as  the  reason  that  "the  couples  find 
themselves  better  pleased  with  their  new  mates  than  with  the 
former  association."  Another  reason,  given  by  Holm,  is  that, 
since  the  men  at  the  same  time  exchange  various  things  besides 
wives,  they  "do  not  wish  to  part  with  the  things  they  have 
come  into  possession  of."  (30:98.)  But  there  may  be  also  a 
quite  different  effect.  "When  marriage  is  disturbed,  the  man 
often  exchanges  his  wife  for  an  indefinite  period,"  says  Ras 
mussen,  "It  is  asserted  that  the  two  are  soon  anxious  to  be 
together  again,  for  a  man  generally  discovers  that  his  own 
wife  is  in  spite  of  all  the  best."  (50:64.) 

Hans  Egede  describes  a  remarkable  "game"  found  among 
the  Eskimo  of  West  Greenland,  for  which  "married  men  and 
women  come  together,  as  to  an  assembly."  After  feasting, 
singing,  and  dancing,  every  man  retired  with  some  other  man's 
wife.  "They  are  held  as  examples  of  the  best  and  noblest 
disposition  who  without  chagrin,  lend  their  wives  to  others." 


76  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

While  "married  people  see  in  it  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of,  the 
young  and  unmarried  are  forbidden  by  modesty  to  take  part." 
(19:78.)  Dalager  states  that  this  performance  is  of  very  rare 
occurrence  and  adds  that  "a  married  woman  who  has  duly 
become  a  mother  of  a  family  never  takes  part  in  it."  (Quoted 
43:168.)  A  similar  "lamp-extinguishing  game"  is  found  in 
East  Greenland;  it  is  played  in  the  winter  when  the  people 
live  in  the  large  communal  houses."  A  good  host  always  has 
the  lamps  put  out  at  night  when  there  are  guests  in  the  house. ' ' 
In  this  game,  unlike  the  one  described  by  Egede,  unmarried 
people  also  take  part.  But,  according  to  Holm,  the  same  limi 
tations  as  to  kinship  are  in  force  as  with  regard  to  contracting 
marriage.  (30:98.)  One  man  claimed  he  did  not  participate 
in  this  game,  for  if  he  did,  he  would  have  to  reciprocate  when 
he  had  guests,  and  he  did  not  like  to  have  other  men  have 
intercourse  with  his  wife.  The  neighbors  denied  this  story. 
It  may  have  been  a  fabrication  with  the  purpose  of  appearing 
righteous  in  the  eyes  of  the  Europeans  according  to  their  stand 
ards.  (30:99.) 

Murdoch  reports  that,  among  some  Eskimo  on  Repulse  Bay, 
there  is  said  to  be,  at  certain  times,  "a  general  exchange  of 
wives  throughout  the  village,  each  woman  passing  from  man 
to  man  till  she  has  been  through  the  hands  of  all,  and  finally 
returns  to  her  husband."  He  gives  as  his  informants  "some 
of  the  whalemen  who  winter  in  the  neighborhood."  The  char 
acter  both  of  the  story  and  the  tellers  make  us  look  with  sus 
picion,  or  at  least  caution,  on  such  a  statement. 

In  passing,  we  may  refer  to  Murdoch's  opinion  that  these 
wife-exchanging  customs  "seem  to  indicate  that  the  Eskimo 
have  not  wholly  emerged  from  the  state  called  communal  mar 
riage,  in  which  each  woman  is  considered  as  the  wife  of  every 
man  in  the  community."  Since  Westermarck  published  his 
epoch-making  argument  against  the  theory  of  primitive  promis 
cuity,  we  are  not  so  inclined  to  this  interpretation,  which,  it 
should  be  said,  was  a  prevailing  doctrine  when  Murdoch  wrote 
the  above. 

We  have  noted  that  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  polygamy 
and  divorce  is  desire  for  offspring.  This  appears  to  be  a 
prominent  motive  in  exchanging  and  lending  of  wives  also. 
True  to  life  is  a  tale  in  which  the  wives  of  two  housemates 
could  not  get  children.  Therefore,  they  exchanged  wives  for 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  77 

a  time;  whereupon  both  wives  became  pregnant  and  bore  sons. 
(30:263.)  Supernatural  agencies  may  be  employed  in  this 
connection.  Thus  in  case  of  barrenness  an  angakok  may  take 
a  trip  to  the  moon,  whence  a  child  is  thrown  down  to  the 
woman,  who  thereupon  becomes  pregnant.  "After  this  difficult 
journey,  the  angakok  has  the  right  to  sleep  with  the  woman" 
—a  curious  transposition  of  time-relations.  (30:131.)  The 
angakoks  can  bring  about  pregnancy,  however,  without  such 
magical  flights.  (53:148.)  According  to  Hans  Egede,  women 
regard  it  as  an  honor  to  cohabit  with  an  angakok.  Also 

' '  Many  husbands  even  regard  this  with  favor,  and  will  even  pay  the  anga 
koks  to  lie  with  their  wives,  particularly  if  they  themselves  cannot  get 
children  by  them;  for  they  believe  that  a  child  begotten  of  an  angakok 
will  be  more  capable  and  fortunate  above  others."  (19:  78.) 

Paul  Egede,  however,  found  that  some  Eskimo  regarded  this 
procedure  as  indecent  (20:135),  Klutschak  alone  refers  to  the 
angakoks'  having  "jus  primae  noctis."  This  lone  instance  may 
be  due  to  misinformation,  or  misinterpretation  of  some  other 
event. 

The  angakoks  sometimes,  by  order  of  their  tornaks,  command 
other  men  to  exchange  wives  with  each  other.  (5:579;  6:158; 
26:101;  66:179.)  "The  women  must  spend  the  night  in  the 
huts  of  the  men  to  whom  they  are  assigned.  If  any  woman 
refuses  to  go,  she  would  be  sure  to  be  taken  sick."  (6:158; 
from  Hudson  Bay;  at  Smith  Sound  it  is  the  men  who  exchange 
sleeping-places,  50:64). 

Rasmussen  writes,  "It  sometimes  happens  that  a  woman  will 
refuse  with  tears  to  be  exchanged,  but  this  is  rare.  Then  the 
husband  beats  her  as  a  punishment. ' '  ( Other  women  may  take 
the  leading  part  in  forcing  a  reluctant  wife  to  yield.  See 
26:102.)  "These  conditions,"  he  continues,  "give  rise  to  curi 
ous  ethical  ideas  among  the  Eskimo.  A  man  once  told  me 
that  he  only  beat  his  wife  when  she  would  not  receive  other 
men.  She  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  anyone  but  him — 
and  that  was  her  only  failing."  (50:65.) 

After  these  considerations,  we  will  probably  regard  Amund 
sen  as  unnecessarily  hard  on  his  own  race  when  he  finds  in  a 
host's  offer  of  the  loan  of  his  wife  "another  striking  proof  of 
the  fact  that  this  tribe  had  been  in  contact  with  'civilized' 
men."  (1.1:293.) 


78  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

In  considering  the  phases  of  Eskimo  morality  brought  out 
in  the  foregoing,  the  following  comment  by  Nansen  is  worth 
noting : 

"We  should  beware  how  we  fix  ourselves  at  one  point  of  view,  and  un 
sparingly  condemn  ideas  and  practices  which  the  experience  of  many 
generations  has  developed  among  another  people,  however  much  they  may 
conflict  with  our  own.  There  may  be  underlying  reasons  which  do  not 
at  once  meet  the  eye,  and  which  place  the  whole  matter  in  a  different 
light.  .  .  .  Their  way  of  thinking  in  these  matters  is  less  ideal  and 
more  practical  than  ours,  and  their  point  of  view  entirely  different.  Their 
habit  of  exchanging  wives,  for  example,  and  their  treatment  of  barren 
women,  seems  to  us  wanton  and  immoral;  but  when  we  remember  that  the 
production  of  offspring  is  the  great  end  and  aim  of  their  conduct,  and 
reflect  what  an  all-important  matter  this  is  for  them,  we  may  perhaps 
pass  a  somewhat  milder  judgment." 

He  remarks  that  to  the  Eskimo  the  exhortation  to  increase 
and  multiply  seems  to  be  of  greater  weight  than  the  prohibition 
of  the  seventh  commandment.  And  he  adds  a  very  important 
suggestion,  "The  reason  may  partly  be  that  his  race  is  by 
nature  unprolific."  (43:169  sq.) 

Homosexual  practices  have  been  reported  by  several  writers 
on  the  Eskimo.  It  has  been  rather  prominently  noted  among 
the  extreme  western  tribes.  (For  details  see  32:120;  56:173, 
176;  2.1:82.)  It  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  males  who  play 
the  role  of  the  opposite  sex.  No  cases  have  been  reported  from 
other  sections.  Some  references  in  folk-lore  may,  however,  be 
of  significance.  A  tale  from  Cumberland  Sound  tells  of  a 
woman  who  transformed  herself  into  a  man  and  married  her 
adopted  daughter.  (6:248.)  In  another  from  the  same  region, 
one  man  took  another  for  wife.  (6:325.)  Still  a  third,  from 
Greenland,  deals  with  a  woman  who  disguised  herself  as  a  man, 
and  took  her  daughter-in-law  for  wife.  Her  son  killed  his 
"despicable  mother."  (53.) 

23.  POSITION  AND  TREATMENT  OF  WOMEN 
Several  writers  speak  of  the  Eskimo  women  as  the  "property" 
of  their  husbands  (48:60;  43:121,  147;  50:62)  ;  others  of  their 
life  as  one  of  "slavery."  (2.1:65;  16.1:151.)  But  such  ex 
pressions  cannot  be  taken  in  a  literal  or  legalistic  sense.  In 
deed,  some  of  the  authors  referred  to  above  would  be  among 
the  first  to  deny  implications  which  such  statements  might 
convey. 


GILBERTSON:   ESKIMO  CULTURE  79 

We  have  already  shown  that  in  the  matter  of  contracting 
marriage,  the  choice  or  consent  of  the  female  is  not  an  alto 
gether  unknown  factor.  As  to  divorce,  her  rights  are  the  same 
as  those  of  the  man.  The  personal  property  she  brings  with 
her  at  marriage  remains  hers  inviolate  during  and  after  the 
union. 

As  to  the  husband's  power  over  her  person,  Rink  says  "the 
husband  had  the  right  of  punishing  his  wife  by  striking  her 
in  the  face  with  just  sufficient  force  to  leave  visible  traces." 
(53:25.)  Boas^to  the  contrary,  speaking  of  the  Central  Es 
kimo,  holds  that  "the  husband  is  not  allowed  to  maltreat  or 
punish  his  wife."  (5:579.)  The  real  state  of  affairs  is  prob 
ably  that  there  are  no  "rights"  one  way  or  the  other.  Wife- 
beating  is  often  indulged  in  (6:298,  538;  42:414;  20:123, 
195;  30:102;  1.1:307;  50:55)  and  as  we  shall  see  presently, 
she  reciprocates  if  she  can.  If  either  party  doesn't  like  the 
treatment  he  or  she  is  free  to  leave.  There  certainly  is  no  legal 
machinery  by  which  either  sex  can  enforce  its  "rights."  It  is 
a  principle  among  the  Eskimo  not  to  interfere  in  domestic 
broils  (50:56;  30:102),  except  in  cases  where  relatives  may  side 
with  the  wife.  (50:61.)  But  they  too  may  stand  idly  by,  like 
the  man,  who,  when  Rasmussen  appealed  to  him  to  help  his 
own  sister,  replied  that  "women  must  be  punished  occasionally 
to  make  them  obedient."  (50:56.) 

But,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  the  story  is  not  all  on  one 
side.  A  case  reported  by  Murdoch  is  not  unique:  "a  stalwart 
wife  turned  the  tables  on  her  husband  who  attempted  to  abuse 
her,  giving  him  a  thorough  beating  and  then  leaving  his  house. ' ' 
(42:414.)  Peary  speaks  of  a  woman  who  "proved  her  right 
to  independence  by  blackening  the  old  man's  eye."  (48:60.) 
Amundsen  tells  of  a  couple,  the  female  partner  of  which  was 
"the  biggest  and  strongest  lady  of  the  tribe."  "This  was  a 
typical  'happy  marriage,'  she  reigned  absolute  and  he  obeyed 
blindly."  (1.1:307-8.)  Rasmussen  witnessed  a  battle  between 
a  man  and  his  wife.  "Women's  whims!  It  is  quite  amusing 
to  cure  them  of  them!"  shouted  the  man.  "Like  a  flash  of 
lightning  she  sprang  at  him  and  struck  him  such  a  violent  blow, 
that  he  fell  down  with  a  howl."  This  caused  exceeding  mer 
riment  all  through  the  village.  "The  strong  man  has  been 
knocked  down  by  a  woman.  Fancy!  Ere  was  thrown  by  his 
wife— pfui,  by  a  woman!"  (50:58;  cf.  30:97.) 


80  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

Such  incidents  as  these  seem  to  make  unnecessary  Petitot's 
theory  that  the  one  line  of  the  Eskimo's  ancestry  came  of  a 
conquered  race,  which  the  victors  assimilated  by  marrying  and 
subjecting  their  women.  "I  can  explain  in  no  other  way  the 
complete  servility  of  the  fair  sex."  (49:104.) 

But  such  domestic  unpleasantnesses  need  not  be  supposed  to 
be  common  occurrences  among  the  Eskimo.  Like  similar  hap 
penings  among  ourselves,  they  are  of  course  more  likely  to  get 
"in  print"  than  the  even  tenor  of  the  average  home  life. 
Nearly  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  Eskimo  would  agree  with 
Holm  when  he  says  that  "the  men  as  a  rule  treat  their  wives 
well."  (30:96.)  Petitot,  in  the  passage  referred  to  above, 
compares  the  general  treatment  of  women  by  the  Eskimo  and 
by  the  Indians  among  whom  he  worked  much  to  the  credit  of 
the  former.  Nansen,  after  describing  some  turbulent  episodes, 
adds,  "Scenes  of  this  sort,  however,  are  rare  among  this  peace 
able  people."  (43:121,  148.)  Murdoch  declares  "there  often 
appeared  to  be  a  warm  attachment  between  married  people." 
(42:410;  cf.  1.1:308.)  Several  writers  describe  scenes  of 
demonstrative  affection.  According  to  Holm,  "  it  is  a  usual  thing 
to  see  married  people  caressing  each  other  with  extraordinary 
intimacy."  (30:96;  cf.  110;  also  50:59.)  Rasmussen  writes: 

"On  the  whole  I  have  retained  the  pleasantest  impression  of  the  mutual 
relations  between  man  and  woman.  .  .  .  We  are  quick  to  judge  the 
men,  because  they  strike;  and  we  are  sorry  for  the  women,  who  get  a 
black  eye  now  and  again  as  the  result  of  a  little  temper.  But  we  forget 
that  we  civilized  men,  by  a  poisoned  word,  can  often  strike  harder  and 
more  brutally  than  the  Eskimo  with  his  fist."  (50:  63  sqq.) 

The  mutual  affection  of  married  people  grows  with  age.  To 
quote  Dalager,  "the  longer  a  married  couple  live  together,  the 
more  closely  are  they  united  in  affection,  until  at  last  they  pass 
their  old  age  together  like  innocent  children."  (43:148;  cf. 
30:97.)  Murdoch  points  out  that  marital  troubles  are  chiefly 
among  young  couples.  (42:414.) 

As  to  the  position  of  woman  in  the  community,  we  have 
very  divergent  testimony.  Holm,  for  instance,  remarks  that 
"the  women  have  social  importance  only  in  as  far  as  they 
give  occasion  for  disagreement  among  men.  Their  position  can 
nearest  be  regarded  as  that  of  servants."  (30:87.)  But  there 
are  many  more  witnesses  which  take  a  quite  different  view  of 
"woman's  sphere."  Thus  Murdoch  says: 


GILBEBTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  81 

"The  women  appear  to  stand  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality  with  the 
men  both  in  the  family  and  in  the  community.  The  wife  is  the  constant 
and  trusted  companion  of  the  man  in  everything  except  the  hunt,  and  her 
opinion  is  sought  in  every  bargain  or  other  important  undertaking." 
(See  also  46,  1:449;  4:  387,  391;  32:  119;  50:  64.) 

Nansen  affirms  that,  if 

"the  social  position  occupied  by  its  women  affords  the  best  criterion  of  a 
people's  place  in  the  scale  of  civilization  [a  view  which  he  does  not  ac 
cept;  cf.  71,  1:  646]  the  Eskimo  must  be  allowed  to  have  reached  a  pretty 
high  level  of  development.  For  the  Eskimo  woman  plays  no  insignificant  a 
part  in  the  life  of  the  community."  (43:  121;  see  also  133.) 

The  facts  of  the  division  of  labor  between  the  sexes  shed 
light  on  this  problem,  and  merit  some  consideration.  Writers 
to  speak  of  women's  life  as  "slavery"  use  that  term  primarily, 
I  think,  as  synonomous  with  drudgery,  although  inferiority 
and  subjection  may  also  be  implied.  Now  no  one  denies  that 
the  Eskimo  woman  has  a  hard  task  to  perform.  But  are  the 
men  idlers?  The  principle  of  division  of  labor  is  fundamental 
to  an  understanding  of  Eskimo  social  and  economic  life.  As 
Nansen  puts  it,  "The  employments  of  the  sexes  are  entirely 
distinct,"  and  he  goes  on  to  say: 

"The  Eskimo  have  not  yet  attained  to  the  conception  that  there  is  little 
or  no  difference  between  the  men  and  women.  They  hold  that  there  are, 
among  other  things,  certain  essential  physical  differences."  (43:  122.) 

For  an  excellent  detailed  treatment  of  this  subject  we  refer 
to  this  author's  chapter  on  "The  Position  and  Work  of 
Women."  Without  going  into  detail  here,  we  quote  the  fol 
lowing  from  Nansen,  which  is  typical  of  the  Eskimo  every 
where  : 

"To  the  man's  share  falls  the  laborious  life  at  sea,  as  hunter  and  food- 
provider;  but  when  he  reaches  the  shore  with  his  booty,  he  has  fulfilled 
the  most  important  part  of  his  social  function.  He  is  received  by  his 
womenfolk,  who  help  him  ashore;  and  while  he  has  nothing  to  do  but  to 
look  after  his  kayak  and  his  weapons,  it  is  the  part  of  the  women  to  drag 
the  booty  up  to  the  house.  The  women  flay  the  seal  and  cut  it  up  accord 
ing  to  fixed  rules,  and  the  mother  of  the  house  presides  at  the  division  of 
it.  Further,  it  is  the  women's  duty  to  cook  the  food,  to  prepare  the  skins, 
to  cover  the  kayaks  and  woman-boats,  to  make  clothes,  and  to  attend  to  all 
other  domestic  tasks.  In  addition  to  this  they  build  the  houses,  pitch  the 
tents,  and  row  the  woman-boats."  (43:  123;  cf.  26:  178;  30:  88;  19:  62; 
16.  1:  154.) 


82  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

It  is  also  common,  on  overland  journeys,  for  a  woman  to  act 
as  leader  and  guide  of  the  dog-team.  (42:274,  359;  26:138, 
215,  1.1:175.)  In  East  Greenland  the  men  share  in  work  other 
wise  performed  only  by  women,  such  as  flensing  the  seal,  put 
ting  up  the  tent,  and  dragging  the  game  to  the  house. 
(30:97.) 

The  following  words  of  Westermarck  are  perfectly  applicable 
to  the  Eskimo: 

' '  It  is  obvious  that  this  strict  division  of  labor  is  apt  to  mislead  the 
travelling  stranger.  He  sees  the  women  hard  at  work,  and  the  men  look 
ing  idly  on;  and  it  escapes  him  that  the  latter  will  have  to  be  busy  in 
their  turn,  within  their  own  sphere  of  action.  .  .  .  The  wife  is  pro 
nounced  to  be  an  abject  slave  of  her  husband,  destitute  of  all  right.  And 
yet  the  strong  differentiation  of  work,  however  burdensome  it  may  be  to 
the  wife,  is  itself  a  source  of  rights,  giving  her  authority  within  a  circle 
which  is  exclusively  her  own."  (71,  1:  637.) 

This  division  of  labor,  based  on  physical  and  social  condi 
tions,  has  become  fixed  by  custom,  so  that  departure  from  it 
is  regarded  as  a  disgrace.  As  Nansen  says,  * t  it  was  beneath  the 
dignity  of  the  hunter  to  lend  a  hand"  in  any  work  peculiar 
to  women.  (43:123;  cf.  69:434.)  But  it  should  be  added,  for 
this  is  liable  to  be  overlooked,  that  even  more  disgraceful  than 
for  a  man  to  do  a  woman's,  is  it  for  a  man  not  to  do  a  man's 
work.  To  the  point  is  Crantz'  statement  that  "those  unable 
to  catch  seals  are  held  in  the  greatest  contempt."  (16.1:151.) 
Recall  the  importance  of  ability  as  a  hunter  as  a  qualification 
for  marriage. 

A  certain  distinction  between  the  sexes  is  seen  on  some  social 
occasions.  For  instance,  at  meals  and  banquets,  the  women  do 
not  eat  with  the  men.  They  eat  either  afterwards,  or  at  the 
same  time  by  themselves.  '( 19:76;  5:563;  1.1:122;  43:134.) 
We  must  be  careful  not  to  read  too  much  significance  into  such 
a  custom.  Certainly,  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  Eskimo 
women  regard  this  as  a  sign  of  social  inferiority,  as  some  of 
the  authorities  do.  Indeed  they  may  prefer  this  arrangement. 
Dalager  relates  that  the  men  sit  in  their  place  and  discuss 
their  hunting  adventures,  past  and  future  (a  subject  more  in 
teresting  to  them  than  to  the  women),  while  "the  women  too 
have  in  the  meantime  formed  a  little  party  by  themselves  in 
another  corner."  (Quoted  43:134.)  We  know  that  women 
take  part,  equally  with  the  men,  in  important  events,  like  the 


GILBERTSON:  ESKIMO  CULTURE  83 

singing  contests  and  the  festivals  for  the  dead.  Also  women, 
even  little  girls,  may  be  angakoks.  (43:29;  63:281,  299.) 

In  concluding  this  survey  of  the  life  of  the  Eskimo  woman 
it  is  well  to  consider  thoughts  like  these  by  Rasmussen: 

"A  superficial  consideration  of  the  position  of  women  in  Eskimo  society 
might  induce  one  mistakenly  to  believe  that  she  leads  exclusively  a  cowed 
and  unhappy  existence.  But  certainly  no  one  would  be  more  astonished 
than  herself  if  any  one  came  to  the  Eskimo  woman  and  pitied  her.  .  .  . 
She  herself  has  no  consciousness  whatever  of  being  man's  drudge.  .  .  . 
That  they  are  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  the  social  fabric  they 
know  quite  well  and  are  proud  of  it. ' '  ( 50 :  62  sqq. ) 

24.     CONCLUSION 

In  closing  this  study,  the  writer  is  keenly  aware  of  its  in 
completeness  and  inadequacy.  Doubtless,  errors  of  interpreta 
tion  are  not  wanting.  No  one  could  more  eagerly  welcome 
criticism  and  correction  of  any  such.  He  realizes  also  how 
doubtful,  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  are  many  points 
of  fact.  Numerous  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  in  the 
available  evidence  remain  unresolved.  To  accomplish  this,  as 
well  as  arrive  at  a  safe  interpretation  of  the  older  observed 
data,  recourse  must  be  had  to  further  "careful  field  work," 
as  Boas  has  emphasized.  (8:805.)  I  think  a  study  of  this 
kind  impresses  one  with  the  uncertain  and  fragmentary  nature 
of  our  information  even  about  a  people  of  whom  so  much  has 
been  written;  and  the  caution  necessary  in  weighing  conclu 
sions  based  on  "comparative"  studies  of  great  numbers  of 
peoples,  about  most  of  whom  our  accurate  knowledge  is  pain 
fully  meager.  Further,  this  humble  effort,  I  believe,  brings 
out  the  importance  of  studying  ethnological  phenomena  in  the 
proper  relations  to  the  total  cultural  complex  of  which  they 
are  a  part.  Without  a  knowledge  of  such  relations,  many 
features  of  Eskimo  morality  would  be  even  less  comprehensible 
than  they  now  are. 

Finally,  I  may  say,  that  one  must  be  impressed  with  the  in 
tense  humanness  of  this  people — that  "a  man's  a  man  for  a' 
that" — even  an  Eskimo.  And,  while  it  is  the  business  of  the 
ethnologist  to  describe  and  explain,  not  to  praise  or  censure, 
I  cannot  but  express  a  profound  admiration  for  these  "neigh 
bors  of  the  north  pole."  To  study  their  life  and  character 
has  been  a  genuine  pleasure.  Of  those  things  in  their  morality 


84  JOURNAL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY 

which  may  jar  our  civilized  sensibilities,  I  can  but  say  with 
Osaquaq,  the  Smith  Sound  Eskimo, 

"Our  tales  are  of  men's  experiences,  and  the  things  one  hears  of  are  not 
always  lovely  things.  But  one  cannot  deck  a  tale  to  make  it  pleasant,  if 
at  the  same  time  it  shall  be  true.  The  tongue  must  echo  the  event  and 
cannot  adapt  itself  to  taste  or  caprice." 


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